Red vs Blue vs Green
by Hannibal-Necromancer97
Summary: Master Chief and Cortana receive word that a certain coworker of Dr. Halsey is using humans in live-fire simulations to train his soldiers, the Freelancers. They are sent to a canyon in the middle of nowhere to get the two teams to cooperate long enough to resolve the matter. (everything is heavy-AU, so things may not match up with what's currently going on. Language ahead.)
1. Orders Received

**Note:** It has come to my attention that Lopez's lines should be readable in English. I humbly apologize, and have rectified this.

/-/

"You wanted to see me, Dr. Halsey?"

"Yes. I need you to look into something for me. One of my associates, a Dr. Church, has been developing his own line of soldiers; likely as a counteraction against the Spartan program. He calls this team 'Freelancer.'"

"Freelancer?"

"A squad of super soldiers; each specialized to a certain skill. But that's not what I'm concerned about."

"It isn't?"

"No. I'm more worried about his method of training. He's pulling soldiers away from the military-those with low test scores and subpar skills-and using them for target practice. He has several instillations set up to house these soldiers, and I've located one."

"You want me to go in and help those soldiers?"

"To be more precise: I want you to intercept the next Freelancer that enters the field, neutralize him, and find out Dr. Church's plans for the project."

"Understood."

"And take Cortana with you. I'm certain she'll want to go back to work with you after how long you've been out."

/-/

"Sarge!" Simmons called.

"What? Whadda you want?" Sarge replied.

"Just wanted to let you know the jeep's fixed. Lopez just needed to change the oil!"

_"_[Yes. I changed the oil, and the tires needed to be replaced,]" Lopez confirmed monotonously.

"Well, hot damn! Good work, Lopez!"

"[Thanks.]"

/-/

Tucker joined his cobalt companion on the cliff. "Whatcha doing?"

"Recon," Church replied, watching the Reds through the scope of his rifle.

"Right… So, what are they up to now?"

"Looks like their fixing their jeep. Not much else."

"Didn't think so."

"Then why the fuck did you ask?"

/-/

"You sure this is the place?"

"These are the coordinates."

"Then where are the soldiers?"

"I don't know. We'll have to go over and investigate; we might be too late."

"I told you to go with the Battle Rifle, but you were too picky."

"I needed the firepower."

"Right…"

/-/

"Hey, why don't I ever get the sniper?" Tucker asked.

"Because," Church stated, "you suck almost as bad as I do with it. Plus, you got a sword, remember?"

"…Eh, I guess you're right."

"Church, are you there?" Caboose called over the radio.

The blue sniper sighed. "What is it this time, Caboose?"

"Um… There's a big, scary guy and a mean lady over here and they're telling me we're in danger. I thought if you have nothing better to do, then you could maybe get them to leave? Maybe?"

"Caboose I'm trying to conduct important…" He paused and looked through his scope again, learning that Sarge was simply kicking the tar out of Grif. "…Fuck it; I'll be there in five."

/-/

Caboose returned to the door, hoping the large individual was gone. He retreated when he learned he was still there. _I hope Church gets here soon…_ he thought.

"I'll ask again," the man said. "Can I speak to your leader?"

"Yeah, um," Caboose replied, "he's not here right now, but if you'd leave a message, I'll make sure he gets it."

"It's urgent. We need to speak with him right now!"

"AGH!" he crouched into the fetal position. "Church said he'd be here in five minutes!"

"…Church?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, Church gives the orders. I just listen!"

"As in _Dr._ Church?"

Caboose was confused now. He didn't know Church was a doctor. "If Church is a doctor, then why did we call that horrible medic who fed my blood to Junior?"

"…That is probably going to be the only time I hear that particular sentence."

/-/

Church walked back to Blue base and saw a behemoth dressed in green armor standing next to a rather small woman outside the bunker. The giant himself seemed to be shouting into the base; presumably to Caboose. Church approached the duo. "Hey!"

The mountainous man turned, facing the de facto leader of Blue team. "Are you the one in charge here?"

"Yeah, that's me. Why, you looking for me or something?"

"You're Dr. Church, then?"

_"Doctor?_ Look, pal, if I was a doctor of anything, I'd be a better one than the guy we've got now. Name's Leonard Church, Private First Class."

The living Hercules pointed his assault rifle at the trooper. "Leonard Church, we're going to ask you a few questions."

/-/

"I'm not so sure that's him," Cortana stated. "I think we've got the wrong Church."

"We were sent here to locate a Dr. Leonard Church, as clarified by Halsey," Chief replied.

"Yes, but this one claims he's only a Private. This can't be the same guy."

"Halsey?" The trooper in blue thought a moment. "I think I remember that name." He then noticed the armor Chief was wearing, "Say, you're not one of those Freelancer guys, right?"

"We're asking the questions here," Chief asserted.

"Because, if you are," the cobalt soldier continued, "then you should probably remember Tex."

"Who is Tex?" Cortana asked.

"Agent Texas. She's a Freelancer agent who was originally called in as backup for us."

"You mean to tell us there's already one here?" Chief interrogated.

"Yeah. You didn't get the memo mister big… green… um..?"

"Sierra One-One-Seven, Master Chief Petty Officer."

"'Sierra?' Dude, that's-"

"We know," Cortana interrupted. "We've been told."

/-/

Tucker watched from the cliff as Church was held at gunpoint by what appeared to be the Incredible Hulk with an assault rifle. "This is not going to end well… I guess I should help him." He drew his sword and headed down, ready to slice-and-dice.

As he got closer, the conversation being held became clearer and clearer. "So," Church said, "you're not Freelancers?"

"No," came a female voice, which Tucker hoped came from behind the skyscraper with the automatic gun, "we're not."

"Well, I'm only asking because Goliath here's wearing about the same model armor they do."

"Not surprising," Goliath said, "theirs is based on the same technology."

"No kidding?"

"None," the female voice confirmed.

"Well, whoever you guys are, I need to know why you're yelling at my guys."

"Well," the giant said, "the short version is that you're all in danger."

"Yeah, that's some big fuckin' news alright."

"I beg your pardon?"

"We've been in danger of everything from allergy season to the apocalypse; I don't think anything you can say right now is going to be any surprise."

"Oh really," the woman said, approaching Church. Tucker felt his armor grow tight in the crotch at the sight of the female interrogator. "How about the fact that Project Freelancer is using everything in this canyon for live ammo training? That me and Chief, here, are planning an assault on their headquarters? Or maybe, my personal favorite-"

The green commando adjusted his aim, now pointing at Tucker. "Come out with your weapons away and your hands up."

"What the fuck?" Tucker then realized how close to the conversation he actually was: he had put himself next to a boulder literally three feet away from the monster known as Chief. "Oh…" He sheathed his sword, shuffling over next to Church. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Church replied, "We're getting interrogated."

"Gotcha."

"State your name and rank, soldier," the woman stated.

"Lavernius Tucker, Private First Class."

"Huh… That's the same rank as your friend, here."

"Yeah. We used to have a Captain, but he had a heart attack a while back. Then Church took the reins over here."

"We didn't ask for your life story, Private," Chief stated.

"Don't care, man. You got it anyway."

"Is the big man gone?" Caboose asked from the base.

"…Yes, Caboose," Church answered. "The big guy is gone. Why don't you come out here and see?"

"Okay." He exited, "I was worried for a second that he was going to eat me, because I had a nightmare one time-," as he talked, he saw that Chief was, in fact, not gone, and so turned and reentered the base, rambling about a random dream he had.

"He's not too bright, is he?" The woman asked.

"No, not really," Church replied.


	2. Not Freelancer

Tucker now found himself looking over the two interrogators. The giant, Chief, was very clearly masculine, a whole head taller than anyone in the canyon, and clad fully in dark green armor. The woman, whose name Tucker vowed to learn, was small by comparison to anyone he'd met prior, had violet hair, blue eyes, and was wearing fairly standard military gear, save for a small lacking in utility pockets on her vest. "So," he said, "what brings you out here, anyway? You said something about us being in danger?"

"Right," the woman answered. "How long have you all been in this canyon?"

"What day is it?" Church asked.

"Thursday."

"We've been here for seventy-two months."

Chief looked at him. "You've been stationed out here for six years?"

"Yup. Me and Tucker at least; Caboose was transferred here more recently."

"Anyways…" the woman continued, "What were the last orders you received?"

"'Defeat the Reds, don't die, wait for further instructions,'" Tucker replied.

"And this was how long ago?"

"Last week."

"I'm going to guess they've been sending you those same orders every other week for the last six years," Chief stated.

"…Come to think of it," Church replied, "yeah. You're right."

"We haven't had real orders since we've been here," Tucker said.

"And none of you found it strange?" the Spartan asked.

"Not until now, we haven't."

/-/

Simmons disengaged the zoom on his helmet, a custom upgrade he implemented, and turned to Grif. "This is bad," he said.

"What's bad?" Grif replied.

"The Blues got another new guy."

"So?"

"He's big."

_"…Person _big or _big_ big?"

Simmons took another look before answering: "Both."

Grif whistled. "Do they really make them like that?"

"Not last time I checked."

"You mean just now?"

"Smartass."

/-/

Chief swung his rifle so it pointed to the door. "Unknown contact."

A soldier clad in black armor stepped out of the base. In her hands were two SMGs, one pointed at each visitor. "Drop your weapons," she said, "both of you."

"Ah," Church said. "I thought this would happen… Better sooner than later, I guess." He gestured to the two new arrivals. "Tex, this is Sierra-One-One-Seven and his friend." He then motioned to Tex. "Chief, this is Agent Texas. She's with us."

"Freelancer Agent Texas?" the woman greeted.

"That's right," Texas answered, not moving her aim a centimeter.

The stranger slowly placed her pistol on the ground, continuing: "My name is Cortana Halsey. The Master Chief and I want only to talk to you."

"Then talk; just call off the gorilla."

"Is that a joke?" Chief inquired.

"What if it is?"

"Chief," Cortana said, "relax. Just cooperate for now so we don't go home in coffins."

Chief paused, but eventually dropped his rifle. "We'll cooperate," he grunted.

"Good boy," Tex said, lowering her weapons as well. "Maybe afterwards you'll get a banana."

A small laugh emanated from the speakers on Master Chief's suit. Church stared at him, puzzled. "Did you just laugh like a little girl?"

"No," he replied flatly.

"Because it sounded like-"

"I said no."

/-/

Sarge was precariously stacking a BLT when Simmons reported in. "Sarge," Simmons said, "you're not gonna like this, but you're gonna want to see it."

"What is it?" Sarge replied, grabbing a slice of tomato for his sandwich.

"The Blues got another new guy; and he's huge!"

"…_Person_ big or-"

"Both."

Sarge drummed his fingers on the table, looking between his sandwich and the door. He spoke after some time. "I'll be right there. I gotta see this in person." He hung up, shouting into the base, "Donut! Lopez! I need one of you to put my sammich in the fridge! I'm headed out."

/-/

Cortana and Chief followed Tex into Blue base. "You two aren't Freelancers," she said, "so why the hell are you here?"

"We were sent by Dr. Halsey," Cortana answered.

"She sent us to intercept the next Freelancer agent to land here," Chief said. "If that's you, then we've already completed one objective."

"Tough shit." Texas sat, "I'm not technically a Freelancer anymore and they've all but forgotten this backwater canyon."

Cortana looked puzzled. "'Technically?'"

"We kind of had a falling out, if you can call it that. I got here and never went back when I found out what was going on."

"How long ago was this?"

"Not long ago, like three or four years now."

"And they haven't wondered where you are?"

"It's not like they haven't been trying. They just sent me a transmission a few weeks ago. I hope to God they stop soon, it's getting annoying."

"Did they say anything about sending someone?" Chief asked.

"I think so. Can't remember."

Cortana turned to Chief. "This could be our chance. If Freelancer Command is sending one of theirs to find Texas, we've gotten our ticket to Dr. Church's base of operations."

"Y'know," Tex said, leaning back in her seat, "if they don't send Maine."

"Who's Maine?" Chief asked.

Tex simply chuckled. "You'll see."


	3. Crash and Burn

Sarge arrived at Grif and Simmons's location and grunted. "What's so important it had to drag me away from my BLT? You said the Blues have another new head?"

"That's right Sarge," Simmons confirmed. "Have a look."

The sergeant looked over at Blue base to see a hulking, green mass walk out. "By God… You were right Simmons," he turned to his maroon subordinate, "he's massive!"

"And heading this way," Grif said, pointing.

And he was. The giant was now walking quite casually toward the Reds' current location, tailed by Tex and Church of the Blue team.

"Dammit!" Sarge dropped to prone, attempting to disappear, which was hard to do in bright red armor when the landscape dictated brown-and-green. "Get down!"

"Why?" Simmons asked. "He's unarmed."

"Something that size with hands doesn't need a weapon to kill you!"

"Besides," Grif said, already on the ground, "he's got Tex with him. If he doesn't decide to kill you, she's gonna."

"Gonna what?" Tex asked, causing Simmons to trip over Sarge and land on Grif.

"Which of you is the leader of this team?" the massive soldier inquired.

Sarge got up, trying his hardest to hide his fear from the behemoth before him. "T-That'd be me."

"I'm here to ask you a few questions."

/-/

Cortana stood in the main doorway, waiting for John to come back. She found herself thinking on the numerous events that had happened in the past two months or so: how she became human, Chief's initial reaction and subsequent acceptance, the whole incident with Sierra. She furrowed her eyebrows, still getting used to addressing a former piece of herself by another name. As she thought, Tucker joined her in the door. "What's up?" he asked, completely oblivious to Cortana's inner turmoil.

"Not much," she answered. "Just waiting for Chief to get back."

"I take it he's important to you?"

She nodded. "More so than you probably believe."

"Well, don't worry about him. He's just going over to talk to the Reds, so he'll be fine. Plus, Church and Tex are with him. If anything happens, they'll take care of him."

"Thanks, Private Tucker. That makes me feel a lot better."

"I aim to please."

"Just so you know, though," she added, "if you're plotting to get in my pants, you're out of luck. I'm taken, and you're nothing by comparison to him."

"Uh…"

"I read your psyche profile. As well as that of Private Caboose; who, apparently, does the opposite of what he's told?"

"…Basically, yeah."

Their exchange was interrupted by a rumbling sound originating above the canyon. The two of them looked up, seeing what seemed to be a massive ball of fire sail through the air. The comet slammed into the broad rock face on the canyon's east side, leaving a pockmark the size of a Scarab. "What was that..?"

"I don't know. But whatever it is, the general rule states that it's not good."

/-/

Chief, Sarge, and the rest all looked at the crater that now decorated the side of the canyon. At its center was a large, metal egg of sorts. _"F-23 Dro-op pod,"_ spoke a tiny voice from Master Chief's suit. _"Desi-ed to deploy medium-to-heavy infa-y from su-orbi-al atmos-ere."_

Sarge looked at Chief. "Was that you?"

"No," he replied, checking his ammo. "Sierra, what can you tell me about the contact that just dropped?"

_"Me-um ar-or, lightly-armed, and there's-s on-y one; suggest pr-aring for mid-to-long range combat."_

"Is that an AI?" Tex asked.

"Not important," Chief stated. "Any other thoughts?"

_"Not really."_

The pod door hissed open, revealing a none-too-formidable soldier. He was clad in gray-and-yellow armor, and one would need to have a very good hearing aide to hear what he was saying from that distance.

"What?" Tex shouted back to the nearly inaudible soldier. "What's that?"

"We can't hear you!" Simmons yelled. "You're too far away!"

"What's he saying?" Church asked.

"Hell if I know," Sarge responded.

The crossfire of miscommunication lasted until Cortana, Tucker, and Caboose came over to their location. "What's going on?" Cortana asked.

"See that pod up there?" Grif said. "Some idiot is stuck up there trying to tell us something." Something suddenly clicked in his mind. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Cortana. I'm here on business with the Chief."

"Right."

"Don't bother, man," Tucker cut in, "she's taken."

"Damn…"

The soldier fell from the pod, landing squarely on his back. He groaned, slipping into unconsciousness. "Well," Chief said, "that got us nowhere."

Tex lifted the trooper from the ground. "You need info, right?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You just found yourselves a source of info on all things Freelancer." She adjusted her grip on him. "This is Washington."

Chief and Cortana looked at each other, having a silent debate over interrogating the new arrival. They both nodded. "Take him over to the Blue base," Chief said. "We're going to have a talk with him when he wakes up."

"No fair!" Simmons said. "He landed more than a foot west of the halfway mark. We get dibs."

"'Dibs?'" Cortana asked. "Are you five?"

"We even worked out a treaty. Whatever side of the canyon anything new lands on, that team gets dibs on it."

"So, if a frigate with weapons, food, and medical equipment landed on the east end, the Blue team gets all of it?"

"Not _all_ of it," Grif explained, "just whatever they want out of it. We'd get what's left."

"And yet you still believe there's an actual war going on here?" Chief asked.

Sarge replied smugly. "Yep. I know it!"

"You're all idiots," Cortana said in disbelief, turning back to the Spartan. "We're surrounded by idiots!"


	4. Let's Talk

**Note:** Better late than never, I suppose. Took a while, but here you go. Enjoy.

/-/

Washington regained consciousness some time later. He was tied crudely to a metal chair, his weapons were gone, and he was face-to-face with what seemed to be Goliath with an assault rifle. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Relax," spoke a female voice. "We just want to talk."

"I hope to God that voice isn't coming from the big guy…"

"It isn't." The voice's owner stepped out from behind the chair. "You're a Freelancer, correct? Agent Washington?"

"Who are you?"

"Unimportant," the giant stated.

The woman continued, "You work for Dr. Leonard Church, the Director of Project Freelancer?"

"How does any of this pertain to you and Bigfoot, here?" Washington asked.

"We're asking the questions here," Bigfoot said coldly.

Wash sighed. "Alright, then. My name is Oregon, I work freelance selling real estate, and I would _love_ a Kool-aid right now."

"Chief, you know what to do."

The big one, which must have been Chief, curled his hand into a fist nearly the size of a cabbage and delivered a punch to Washington's abdomen that would likely hospitalize any normal person. Wash let out a grunt, slumping in his chair. "Ugh… That fucking hurt."

"It wasn't meant to tickle. Get comfortable, Chief; we're going to be here a while."

"Bring it on, bit- OOF!"

/-/

"It's not gonna work, you know," Simmons said.

Tex looked at him. "What isn't?"

"Interrogation. At least how they're doing it, it isn't. People will say anything to make the pain stop. Plus, he's a Freelancer, so he's going to keep everything under wraps."

"Well, we don't exactly have any other options, now do we? We're just lucky they sent Wash."

"Why?" Grif asked. "What makes him so great?"

"He's got the best memory of anyone in the organization. Anything useful we get will practically be straight from Freelancer Command."

"…What like Google?"

"I use Bing," Simmons said.

"Google's got more results!"

"Yeah, but Bing has more _accurate_ results."

"Cort's right," Tex muttered. "You _are_ idiots."

/-/

"Is that," Washington panted, "all you've got?"

"What is Dr. Church planning?" the woman growled.

"You know, I'm more cooperative after my interrogators _kiss my ass!"_ He turned his head. "You're not getting shit out of me."

Chief delivered unto Agent Washington a truckload of pain, jabbing him repeatedly in the abdomen. After the onslaught, Wash was left slumped in his chair. His gut and chest were on fire, and he didn't seem like he could take much more punishment. But he still refused to talk. "We'll be back when you feel like being useful." The woman and her behemoth exited the room.

/-/

"You get anything?" Church asked.

Cortana shook her head. "He's not budging. I'm starting to fear that physical violence is going to end him. We need someone to go in there as an alternative."

"What about Tex? A familiar face may make him open up a little."

"It's worth a shot. I'll be honest, I don't enjoy torture; never have. It seems to come naturally to J- …to the Chief."

"What was that?"

"What?"

Church crossed his arms. "You paused just then."

"No, no I didn't."

"Uh-huh… Okay, I'll drop this for now, but something's up." The cobalt soldier then walked off to find Texas.

/-/

"…Besides," Simmons said, continuing his argument, "Bing doesn't pull up porn for every other result."

"Duh," Grif retorted. "Why do you think I use it? It knows exactly what I want before I even do."

"Hey, Tex," Church said. "We need you to interrogate what's-his-nuts." He turned to the Reds' feud. "Google."

"Yes!"

"Fuck!"

"Why me?" Tex asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"We figure if he's talking to someone he recognizes we'll get more out of him."

"Probably will, but Wash and I didn't exactly talk too much."

"Well that's just fan-fuckin'-tastic. What do we do now?"

"Just wait," she said. "I never said we _never_ talked. I could get some info out of him. What's in it for me, though?"

"How about…" He pretended to think. "You get to go have sex with yourself. Seriously, what does it matter?"

"You gotta make it worth my while. Otherwise, I'm just gonna sit here."

"She said, standing."

"I want fifty bucks."

"Twenty."

"Thirty-five."

"Fine."

/-/

Washington looked up as the door opened. Rather than the blue-haired woman and her pet giant from before, a soldier in black entered the room. She leaned herself back-to-the-wall with her arms crossed. "Washington."

"Texas?" he greeted. "So you aren't dead."

"Who ever said I was?"

"The Director. He told me to go get whatever's left of you."

"How's that going for you?"

"Not too well," he coughed. "That big son of a bitch can throw a punch, I'll give him that."

"But you didn't talk?"

"Do I look like I talked? That guy beat the living shit out of me, then I think he beat it back in. I don't think I can take much more of this…"

"That's why they sent me. They don't want me beating you up because we need you to stay alive."

"So you're in on this?"

"Kind of. Strictly speaking, I'm here to get you to talk. They never specified what about."

Wash chuckled. "So, what is it you want to know?"

/-/

Cortana twiddled her thumbs, waiting for Texas to come back out. She was still fascinated by everything her human body was capable of (she'd even accidentally learned not to long ago that she was double-jointed.) She looked over at the Master Chief, who presently was cleaning his assault rifle. Probably best; Cortana herself felt that this canyon generated filth so bad that one would need several showers after being here a week.

"Hey, Chief," she said, catching the Spartan's attention. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah," he answered. "Why?"

"I just need to talk to someone. I don't know why."

"Well, what do you want to talk about?"

"Anything, really; just as long as it gets my mind off this place."

Chief thought a moment. "Hm… We could talk about us?"

"Technically we're working," Cortana answered. "That seems a little… inappropriate."

The Spartan set his rifle down, standing with his hand outstretched. "Why don't we take a break, then?"

Cortana paused, smiled, and took the giant's hand. "I don't see any harm in that. Lead the way."


	5. One Step Forward

"What was the Director's plan, anyway?"

"I don't know. He never told anyone, not even Carolina. He'd just send us on remedial assignments; have us shoot some sim troopers, and get the fastest time. That's all I know."

Texas squatted in front of Washington, continuing. "What if I told you that those 'sim troopers' are actual people?"

Wash thought a moment. "…I'd probably say you were crazy. F.I.L.S.S. makes all the simulations herself. Right?"

"I've been here just over four years, Wash. They're all real."

"I don't believe you."

"You want proof?"

"Try me."

Tex stood, turning away from the soldier. "I kinda… used to…" She cleared her throat, rubbing the back of her neck. "…sleep with one of them."

Wash remained silent.

"It's a long story and I don't feel like talking about it. So do you believe me?"

"…Holy shit."

/-/

Church watched from around the corner as the Master Chief removed his helmet, sat it on the table, and led Miss Halsey outside (Mrs.? Maybe it was Ms. He didn't know.) This gave him the opportunity to investigate the tiny voice that kept coming from Chief's helmet. He casually walked over to the table and picked up the high-tech brain bucket. "Hello?" he said in a low voice before lifting it up next to his head.

_"Hello-o-o?"_ came a tiny, distorted reply.

"Uh… What's your name?"

_"Mom sa-aid not to ta-alk to stra-ers."_

"Did she now? Well then," he sat, "my name's Church."

_"I'm Sierr-err-ra."_

"See? Now we're not strangers."

/-/

"Look," Wash said, his head hanging low, "I already told you everything I know."

Tex nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation, Wash."

"And please, when you leave, don't send those last two in here."

"I won't."

"And can you tell them I was serious about the Kool-aid?"

/-/

Tex walked out of the room to find that the Reds had started a new argument. "I'm telling you," Grif said, "The Hulk would kick the Terminator's ass!"

"And I'm telling _you_," Simmons snapped back, "the Terminator is the pinnacle of killing machines!"

"That's what they said about the railgun, after the minigun, after the rocket launcher-"

Tex cleared her throat, ceasing the dispute. "If anyone's interested, I'm done interrogating Wash." She pointed to the two bickerers in front of her. "Make sure he doesn't leave; I'm gonna go find Halsey."

/-/

"Let's just say," Church said, "the last time we got a recruit, I wound up dying, like, the next day."

Sierra laughed, "Tha-ats funny!"

"True story!" Church thought for a second before continuing. "Say, Kid…"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have anything on Chief and Cortana?"

"Only wha-at I learned since tw-tw-enty days ago."

"Like what?"

Sierra changed to an authoritative monotone voice. _"Intelli-nce classified. Vo-oice print fai-ai-ailed. Please restate co-and."_

"Uh… Kid?"

"Yeah?" she replied, seeming to be back to normal.

"Was that you?"

"Was wha-at me?"

Church heard footprints coming from around the corner. "Gotta go," he whispered, setting Chief's helmet back where he found it. He began to nonchalantly drum his fingers on the table as Tex walked in. "Tex."

"Have you seen where Halsey ran off to?" Tex asked. "I got everything we're going to get out of Wash."

"Uh…" He pointed to the door. "I think I saw her leave with the big guy. You might be able to catch them if you hurry."

"Thanks."

/-/

"I'm glad we could talk, Cortana."

"Me too, John. C'mon, we've got work to do."

Chief nodded. Staying in a galaxy of peace wasn't easy for him (let's face it, he was practically born to be a soldier), so having someone to talk to-someone to care about-made him feel at ease. Of course, the Reds and Blues could never find this out; they probably couldn't fathom that he was human, same as them. They probably thought he was little more than a machine, ever-ready for combat. So, for now at least, he'd have to stay formal with them; although, the teal one was well on his way to driving him up a wall.

The two of them started back for Red base, but Tex found them. "Agent Texas," Cortana greeted.

"Halsey," she replied.

"Did Washington cooperate?"

"Barely. He and the others think this is all generated by the Freelancer AI, F.I.L.S.S."

"'Phyllis'?" Chief repeated.

Tex nodded. "The Freelancer Integrated Logistics and Security System. She oversees training regimens, statistics, basically everything when the Director isn't."

"So," Cortana guessed, "she's our new objective, then."

"That depends on what the objective is."

"Washington, evidently, didn't give us anything. We'll need to find more information, and it sounds like this 'F.I.L.S.S.' is our best bet."

"There's just one thing…"

_There's always something, isn't there…_ Chief thought.


	6. Two Steps Backward

"F.I.L.S.S. has multiple versions, and the only one of use is at HQ."

Cortana fumed. "Is there one in this canyon?"

"Beats me; it wouldn't be much use anyway…"

Chief sighed. "Let's head back to base, then. We'll think of something."

"We always do, don't we?" Cortana agreed, heading that way.

As the duo walked on, Tex stalled to think. _Something is definitely up. I just need to find out what it is…_ She followed Cortana and Chief back to the Reds' base.

/-/

"Bullshit," Simmons said. "Pound-for-pound, she's definitely stronger."

"Have you seen the guy?!" Grif shouted. "He'd whip her ass any day of the week!"

As soon as Cortana entered, she was immediately sucked into the all-consuming vortex of Grif and Simmons's argument. "Halsey," Simmons greeted hastily.

"Can you help us settle a bet?"

"Uh…" she answered cautiously. "I guess it would depend on the bet..?"

"Who would win," Simmons pitched, "between Tex and the Chief?"

"…A fight..?"

The duo nodded.

"…Texas and Chief?"

More nodding.

"Hm… Well, I've yet to see Texas in actual combat, but I've known Chief since he was little."

"He used to be _little?_" Grif said incredulously.

"I suppose the only way to find out would be to, well… _find out._" She caught herself. "Um, small scale, of course! Private Simmons, does this base have anywhere to train in hand-to-hand combat?"

Simmons thought for a moment. "Well, we don't have anything fancy, but we could probably use the garage."

A loud thud could be heard from the other room, followed by two painful screams.

/-/

"Hey! Easy!"

"Uncle!"

Cortana, Grif, and Simmons entered to see Chief pinning Church and Tucker to the wall. He had them both pinned to the wall with their arms behind their backs. "What's going on in here?!" Cortana asked.

"I caught these two tampering with my helmet," Chief answered. "They left me no other options."

"The rest of us," Church strained, "had a very clear understanding in this canyon!"

"What's this understanding?"

"A couple years ago," Tucker explained, "we had a little bit of a 'tech issue'. Tex's AI, O'Malley, went haywire and started attacking people. He sent himself through the radio and possessed them, turning them into major dicks."

"He kind of stopped after hopping into our medic," Church continued. "Now he just switches between being Doc and Professor Pissed. After the incident, Sarge and I agreed on one thing: no crazy, jumpy AI allowed in the canyon."

"That doesn't explain why he's got you both against the wall," Grif said.

"Sierra got out."

Cortana felt a bead of sweat form on her temple. "What do you mean she 'got out'?"

"I _mean_ that she wanted to see if she could do the same thing. So, she had me turn on Chief's radio and she hopped into the closest receiver she could find."

"And where was that?" Chief growled.

Church's helmet buzzed as his head twitched. _"Hi-i, Dad,"_ said a soft, tiny voice.

"…Sierra?"

/-/

"So let me get this straight," Cortana said impatiently. "You told Sierra about an AI fragment that was able to jump from person to person; you let her talk you into turning on the radio; and to top it all, she's now housed in your helmet."

Church nodded.

"Did you expect her to _not_ try and jump? Did it not occur to you that she's a _child_?"

"'Child' is a bit of a broad term for AI, isn't it?" Church said innocently. "Don't they break after, like, seven years or so?"

"Don't change the subject, Private," Chief said.

"Right," Church answered, "sorry. So, how do we get her out?"

"I imagine the same way she got in," Tex suggested. "Worth a shot, isn't it?"

Cortana frowned, thinking. "I don't see many other options…"

"But if she doesn't want to leave the Private's helmet?" Chief inquired.

"Hm… Chief, do you still have Sierra's data card in your helmet?"

"Always. Why?"

"Hang on to it, just in case. We may need it if all else fails."

/-/

**Note:** I'm sorry this was later than usual. There was a slight problem getting it onto the site. But, what matters is that it's here now, and I call that a win. Thank you all for being so patient.


	7. Tech Support

"How do we get her out?" Church asked.

"Well," Texas answered, "most Freelancer AI would stay with their data card. If that was the case here, we could just remove Sierra's card and, by extension, Sierra. Unfortunately, she learned to integrate herself via radio, so we have two options. Number one: we delete Sierra, ending the problem before it starts."

"Great!"

"Not a chance!" Cortana said angrily. "Option two?"

"We switch everyone else's radio to 'receive' while Church transmits. She should go to someone close by if we're lucky."

"But it's the Chief's AI," Simmons noted. "Wouldn't it make more sense to just have him receive while the rest of us maintain radio silence?"

"If this weren't a Freelancer instillation, yes," Chief answered. "Agent Texas's plan will be more likely to keep Sierra inside the canyon."

"And if, say, she doesn't jump?" Church asked.

"In the event that that happens, I'll plug her chip into your helmet. With luck, she'll go back, and I'll be able to retrieve her."

"And if she doesn't jump to you?" Tucker asked.

"We switch off the last person's radio, limiting her path until she gets back to Chief," Cortana answered.

"These two plans completely contradict each other," Grif said.

"It worked last time."

"'Last time'?" Church asked hesitantly.

She waved the thought away. "Unimportant. Everyone get ready."

Everyone switched their radios to receive incoming signals, save for Church who stayed on transmit. "Sierra," he said.

_"Yeah?"_

"You're going to make a little jump, just like before. Okay?"

_"Okay, Le-enny-y."_

This earned a snicker from Texas. "She calls you 'Lenny'?"

"Shut the fuck up. Sierra, just jump."

_"Alri-ight."_

She left Church's helmet, allowing him to switch off the radio. "Does anyone have her?"

"No."

"Nope."

"Not here."

"Zilch."

Everyone reported negative. "This doesn't make sense," Simmons said. "There are eight of us with radios and she didn't jump into one! That's statistically impossible!"

A loud yell could be heard from the other room. Everyone rushed to the small antechamber Washington was being held in, and found him on the ground, still tied to his chair, screaming at the top of his lungs like a bat out of hell. "GET IT OUT!" he shouted. "GET IT THE FUCK OUT!"

Cortana rushed to him, trying to hold the agent still. "Agent Washington, get a hold of yourself! What are you talking about?"

"IT'S IN MY HEAD! GET IT OUT!"

Grif chuckled. "Two-to-one, she jumped to Wash."

"Give me a piece of that action," Tucker agreed.

"Washington," Cortana said. "Washington, hold still! You need to calm down!"

Chief lost his patience. He lifted the soldier back up and punched him, effectively whiplashing him into unconsciousness. He was treated with a blank stare from everyone, to which he replied with a shrug, "He wasn't cooperating."

_"…Mo-om? …Da-d? Is that you-ou?"_

"Sierra?" Cortana answered. "We're here. Is something wrong?"

_"Yes. Some-ng is very-y wro-ong. This man… He's i-in pain…"_

"Well, Chief just punched him in the face," Grif cut in, earning an elbow to the ribs.

"What are you talking about?" Cortana continued.

_"His mind isn't hi-s own. Somethi-g happened a lo-ong time ago… It changed him. The-re are pieces of mem-ies here that aren't his. Memo-ies of pain; agony; torture…"_ She began to whimper._ "I-I don't want to be-e in here anymore."_

Chief bent down to meet Sierra. "It's going to be okay," he said, plugging her chip into Washington's helmet. "You don't have to." As he returned the Fragment to her card, a wave of disbelief washed over the sim-troopers. This was the first time-okay, _second_-that they'd seen any kind of emotion come from the gargantuan man since he'd been here. He plugged Sierra back into his helmet, acknowledging the others with silence as he left.

When the shock had passed after what felt like ages, Texas was the first to speak. "Is he always that nice?"

"No," Cortana said, a smile crossing her lips briefly, "he isn't."


	8. Sheila

"Agent Texas," Cortana addressed, exiting the base, "can I speak to you for a moment?"

"Sure," she answered. "But you don't have to be so formal around here. Just call me 'Tex'."

"Okay, Tex. You had mentioned that there was a F.I.L.S.S. in this canyon?"

"I said there _could_ be one. I _also_ said that she wouldn't be of much use if there was one."

"Do you know where it would be?"

Tex thought. "Seeing as everything is regulated by Freelancer command… I'd have to say she'd be housed in the most complex piece of machinery in the canyon as a guide."

"And that would be..?"

"I don't know. Maybe the tank?"

"…There's a tank here?"

"Yup. M808V Scorpion, standard. It's over at Blue base. But, again, I doubt she'd be of much use."

"Couldn't hurt to try."

/-/

When they got to the Blue base, they found that the tank was already in use, and was firing repeatedly at an old jeep. Texas left to make sure Doc wasn't maiming Caboose, so Cortana decided to speak with whoever was in the tank. She trailed around back just in time to see the war machine rip the car in two. "Nice shot," she commended.

"Thank you," the pilot replied. The tank must have had a radio or speaker of some kind, because the voice sounded just slightly garbled with static. She didn't exit the vehicle.

"I'm Cortana; I was here a while ago."

"You can call me Sheila." She fired another shell into the rusted chasse. "I am currently making sure this platform's targeting and gyroscope are properly calibrated, so please excuse me if I don't respond right away."

"Alright." Sheila seemed to be chipper about everything she said; very optimistic and upbeat. Cortana could hear in her voice how calm and nice she was-almost like a mother. "Is there anything you can tell me about the tank?"

"Anything you would need to know."

"What about its program?"

"…I beg your pardon? I don't recall any other programs manifesting in this tank's CPU."

"Well, there is. What's more, we think it will help us find the Director of Project Freelancer."

Sheila paused to think before responding. "I was going to perform a scheduled scan after the cannon was calibrated. If this program turns up, I will tell you."

"Thanks, Sheila." Cortana left her to her devices. _In the meantime,_ she thought, _I'm not familiar with the Blue Base's interior… Might as well._ She entered the base, finding that everything was roughly similar to the layout of Red Base. Not overly surprising, as the bases were meant to keep one team from having any advantage, but still interesting to note. She could hear whistling coming from one of the rooms and decided to investigate. Inside she found that the sound came from a sole trooper in plain blue armor, who was standing guard next to a flag. "Excuse me?"

When the soldier saw her, he immediately curled up and began to panic. "NONONONONO!" He shouted. "You're that mean lady from before, with the giant scary man!"

It took a few seconds for Cortana to process who she was talking to. "Private Caboose?"

"Oh God, now you know my name!"

"Yep," Texas said, dragging an unconscious purple soldier behind her, "that's Caboose."

"I hadn't realized how powerful an effect Chief has on people until now," Cortana breathed.

"Nah, he's just like that."

"I think maybe O'Malley caused some damage when he was housed in Caboose's helmet," the purple guy groaned, weakly standing upright. "I'm Frank, by the way. Frank DuFresne."

"Frank what?" Cortana asked, shaking his hand.

"We call him Doc," Tex clarified. "He's the one medic in this entire canyon."

"You share medical personnel with the Reds?"

"Yup."

"You'd think that would've been worth pointing out. I mean, didn't you used to be a Freelancer? Wouldn't you know this?"

"It never came up." Something clicked in Texas's head. "Did you find the tank?"

"Yeah, but someone was using it. She said she'd tell me if F.I.L.S.S. was in there."

"…Who did you say was using it? Because the only two people who know how to drive it are Caboose and me."

"She said her name was Sheila. She was really nice; very efficient in what she does, which seems to be generally using and tending to the tank."

"Sheila? …Oh, now I see. Excuse me for a minute, I'll be right back." Texas left the room, leaving Cortana with Doc and a scared-shitless Caboose.

/-/

"Sheila," Tex called, walking to the tank.

"Yes, Agent Texas?" Sheila replied. "I was just finishing-"

"Cortana. Did she ask you about a program in the tank?"

"Affirmative. Cortana asked earlier if there was a program that would help her locate the Director of Project Freelancer."

"Yeah, well, she might have been talking about you."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I was certain that one of the Director's systems, F.I.L.S.S., was running in the tank. That being said, I completely overlooked the fact that you were in it. Now everything says you're F.I.L.S.S., if that makes sense."

"…Affirmative. Regardless, Cortana asked me to scan for a program in the tank that would help locate the Director."

"Yes, and that's supposed to be you."

"…Negative."

"What?"

Sheila began her scan as she explained. "The specifications of the file I'm supposed to find are 'location', 'locate', and 'Director'. As none of these keywords bring up my core drivers or memory, and my memory alone contains no information on the Director, there is a 97% certainty that I am not the program I am scanning for. While true that I am a F.I.L.S.S. variant, I am not the original F.I.L.S.S., and do not share her memories or information."

Texas took a moment to process the fact she just got mind-fucked by a tank. "…So, you _aren't_ the one we want?"

"Affirmative. Also, the scan is complete, and I do seem to have one file containing useful information about the Director."

/-/

"So," Cortana said, "he's still living in our helmet after all this time?"

"Yup," Doc replied. "After settling in, he doesn't pose much of a threat anymore. Right, O'Malley?"

_"You pious buffoon,"_ Omega said, _"I'm simply taking refuge in your helmet until somebody stronger comes along. Then so-on and so-forth until I have enslaved all mankind!"_

"Yeah, yeah, you said that yesterday 'so-on and so-forth'. Just admit you like hanging out here."

_"Never!"_

"Halsey," Tex said, reentering the base, "I need to talk to you."


	9. Valuable Intel

"What do you need, Texas?" Cortana asked.

Tex answered, "Sheila said she found something useful; something to help us find the Director."

"She did? What was it?"

"You wouldn't believe it…"

/-/

"…A return address?" Chief asked skeptically.

"A send-back location for the tank," Cortana confirmed. "It should, in theory, lead us straight to the Director."

"'In theory.' I'm not sure I like the sound of that, Cortana."

"It's all we've got, give me a break."

"So, if this send-back magically works," Church said, "what are we going to do once we're there?"

Chief and Cortana looked at each other and shrugged. Cortana looked back at the private, claiming, "We didn't honestly expect to get this far."

"You don't even have a plan?" Tex asked incredulously. "You realize this is the single most-powerful person in the entire project?"

"We realize," Chief said. "But we'd estimated our assignment would take at least a few weeks; we didn't think we would find out where he was so soon. I'm willing to take the blame for that."

"In hindsight," Cortana added, "we probably could've plotted out a plan of action while you were taking the time to pick a gun."

"I told you, I like the firepower. It gives me something to think about when I'm _defending the galaxy twice."_

While Cortana and the Master Chief argued, the Reds and Blues tried to come up with a plan by themselves. "What if we loaded the warthog with explosives?" Simmons suggested. "We could blow a hole in the side of Freelancer HQ and hit them with the element of surprise."

"Except for Freelancer HQ is onboard the Mother of Invention," Tex answered, "Which just so happens to be a ship sailing through the vacuum of space. If you can get a jeep up there, by all means do."

"Damn."

"And besides," Tucker added, "that place is going to be crawling with Freelancers. If we go in with guns blazing, we'll get our collective asses handed to us."

"We could pretend we're the cable guys," Grif pitched.

"Get serious, man."

"This isn't working," Tex stated. "If we're going to plan anything, we'll need a detailed map of the ship's interior."

"Didn't you used to serve on there?" Church asked.

"Four years ago; my memory of it is no good. We'd need… someone… who…" she looked into the interrogation room as her train of thought pulled out. "…I have an idea."

/-/

Wash was still tied up in the interrogation room, groggily trying to collect himself after what had happened just recently. He was completely unprepared for that Fragment, or the subsequent assault on his own mind. It accessed parts of his memory that he'd kept locked up tight-how it did so was beyond him, as the only other Fragment he could think of with that power was Epsilon…

Texas entered the room. She stood in front of him, arms crossed, probably with a stern expression on her face; it was hard to tell through the helmet. "Wash," she addressed flatly.

"What do you want now?" he answered. "I already told you all I know."

"Not _all._ Not quite." She looked him square in the face (I'd say eyes but, again, helmet). "We need you for something."

"Whatever it is, what if I refuse?"

"I put Sierra back in your head and _she_ can get it out of you."

"…What do you want to know?"

"We need a detailed description of the Mother of Invention's interior."

"You're kidding, right?" This statement earned him an uncomfortable ten seconds of blank staring. "What do you need a description for? More importantly, why do I have to be the one to give it?"

"Halsey and the Chief need it for a plan; and you have a better memory than I do, so it has to be you."

Washington weighed his options carefully before answering. "…First, you need a way in. The cargo dock at the rear of the ship is your best bet…"

/-/

Texas exited after about twenty minutes. "Well," Simmons said, "did you get anything out of him?"

She nodded. "Get Chief and Halsey. We're going to plan a raid."

**Note:** This one was kind of short, I get that. I'll try to make the next one longer.


	10. Soundproof Plan

A written map of Freelancer HQ-the Mother of Invention-lay on the table in Red Base. Master Chief, Cortana, Texas, and the Reds and Blues all stood around, attempting to hatch a plan of action.

"We'll need a means of transportation," Simmons noted, "something to get us up to the ship and into the dock, with enough fuel for a round-trip."

"Cortana and I can requisition a Pelican for the mission," Chief stated. "We can have it here the day after tomorrow with a full stock of arms and ammunition."

Cortana pointed to the chart, starting at the ship's hangar. "We'll enter from the rear-"

"Bow-chicka-bow-wow," Tucker interrupted, earning a glare. "Force of habit, sorry."

"…From there," she traced the various following chambers with her finger, "we can move through the ship's halls. More than likely, they'll have agents onboard; so Chief, you'll be taking point with Texas and Tucker, since he has the sword."

"Damn right!"

"I'll see what I can do about their security systems," Simmons volunteered.

"Won't do any good," Tex shot down. "The system was created specifically so Agent York-not to mention myself-couldn't hack it, and he's the best locksmith I know."

"But who's the best hacker and programmer you know?"

"…Probably the Director himself, but be my guest."

"My weapon's useless outside of a few feet," Sarge said flatly. "If I'm in on this, I've gotta be at the front!"

"Valid," Cortana agreed. "You'll go with Chief and Tex, too."

Grif scratched his head. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You… huh… I don't actually know what you can do. Just be productive if nothing else."

"What the hell kind of answer-"

"Being that this mission is vital, and we may not have another shot at this ever again, Doctor DuFresne and Private Caboose will have to stay here in the canyon."

"Actually," Church chimed, "I think we'd better bring Caboose on this one."

"Are you sure?" Chief asked. "He seems like a liability, and his records didn't show any formal training."

"Trust me; I have a plan."

"That just leaves one last thing." Cortana motioned to the interrogation room. "What do we do with Washington? We can't leave him, kill him, or let him return to his boss."

"Why can't we kill him?" Grif asked, still somewhat annoyed by his answer. "If we're going to be laying waste to a bunch of Freelancers, we might as well start with him."

"If we kill or leave him," Tex explained, "that will let Command know what we're up to via lack of his returning. If we let him go, he can alert the Director to what we're up to. Either way, it's not an option."

"…What if we bring him with us?" Tucker asked. "Like, as a scapegoat? He could give us clearance to enter the ship without stirring trouble."

"Forget it. Wash would never cross the Director, willing or not."

"Wouldn't I?" The group shifted their gaze to the door that should've had Agent Washington behind it, which now stood open with him coughing in the doorway.

"How did you get out of our state-of-the-art interrogation chamber?" Sarge asked incredulously.

Wash coughed again. "It's a laundry room, you idiots. You had me tied to a folding chair with shoelaces; practically anyone could get out of that."

"Then why didn't you until just now?" Simmons retorted.

"…It took me a while to realize it… Not important; I'm offering to help. And I'll be honest, the Director is an asshole. It's about time he got taken down a notch. And… Halsey was it?" he turned to Cortana. "If you take your own drop ship, you won't get in, even with me. I can call for one straight from Command and they won't realize what's happening until it already has."

Tex nodded. "Smart thinking, Wash."

"And _you,_" he walked over to the Master Chief. "Don't _ever_ let that thing out again!"

"She was just having fun," Chief replied. "She didn't even mean to jump to you."

"I don't care. If she gets near me ever again, I won't hesitate to delete her."

The Chief took a single step forward, staring down at the black-and-gold soldier that stood before him with distaste. "Then you'd better be ready to deal with me."

"I don't trust him," Cortana whispered to Tex. "What if he betrays us?"

"If he does," she replied, "I'll take care of it." Texas addressed the entire room, "Since we've got the basic plan down, all that's left is to put it into motion."

"_But,_ before we do," Grif chimed, "we need to have a party!"

"Something that says, 'we're gonna kick some ass tomorrow,'" Sarge added.

"And there has to be beer!"

"Beer to knock an ass off its ass!" Sarge then realized that he's been agreeing with Grif. "…I feel so dirty right now… Ah, who cares? Bring on the tequila!"

**Note: **Okay, not a particularly important chapter, but it's all I had at the time. More to come.


	11. Mixed Nuts

**Note:** I'm sorry this one arrived so late. I will try to be more punctual in the future.

With their plan written down in detail, the Reds and Blues all agreed to have a party to celebrate their theoretical impending victory. Cortana, of all people, seemed up for it. Chief, however, didn't really condone it. "I'm only saying it doesn't seem like a good idea," he explained. "If we're going to tackle the Mother of Invention tomorrow, we have to be at our peak. Getting intoxicated the day before will just slow us down."

"Blah blah blah," Grif said, setting the Reds' reserve of beer on the table. "That's what you sound like right now."

"Yeah, man," Tucker added, placing the Blues' keg, "this is how we do things. Lighten up."

Cortana patted Chief on the shoulder. "Just let them have their fun, Chief. You can't talk them out of it at this point. Besides, we never got to fully enjoy the last party we were at, remember?"

The Spartan thought for a long minute. He knew Cortana was right, and the sim-troopers wouldn't back down on their decision. Still holding that it was a bad idea, he sighed. "If you all want to get drunk then go ahead. I won't stop you."

Grif and Tucker gave each other a triumphant high-five.

/-/

Little more than an hour passed and the party was in full swing. For a couple of teams locked in a perpetual fight with each other, the Reds and Blues seemed to get along oddly well. Texas and Washington were presently in a heated discussion about the code of ethics that came with beer pong, and Chief simply stood by himself at the back of the room. He watched as Cortana swamped Sarge and Church in darts, all the while thinking about how he was having serious déjà vu. _"Dad-d?"_ Chief looked up, knowing no one would be there still. _"Are you-u ups-t about so-thing?"_

"No, Sierra," he answered. "I'm fine."

_"I on-y asked cause yo-'re alone over here. You look like you-ou lost an arg-ent, o-or may-e a bet."_

"I'm just… I'm trying to figure these Reds and Blues out. When we got here, they seemed like they wanted to kill each other over all else. Then we told them about the Freelancers and they united almost instantly. And there's no doubt that, after we're done here, they'll just go right back to hating each other again. They have no rhyme or reason to anything they do, and I'm pretty sure half of them are psychologically damaged - Private Church even claims he died, yet is… well, losing at darts to your mother."

_"I think maybe y-ou need to see-ee it from their persp-tive. They've been here for al-ost six years trai-ing to fight a non-exis-nt enemy because someone else told them to. As far as they could tell-ll before we a-ived, the Free-anc-rs were just soldiers, same as them. Af-er to-orrow-ow, the Reds' tra-ng will tell them that the Blues are the ene-y. Kee-ing a cycle like this-s-s up for so long is bound to leave some mental deter-or-tion. But Lenny did die; he told me so!"_

"…You're a smart kid, Sierra. You really are your mother's child. But I'm pretty sure Private Church is alive."

_"You can ask him your-elf, if you wa-ant."_

While Chief explained how Church couldn't possibly be dead, Wash and Texas decided to change topics. "So, Chief and Halsey," Wash began. "Since I've seen them, they've had this weird air about them. Am I right?"

"They're not like the others; that's for sure. There's something I can't figure out about those two, and I think Church thinks the same thing."

"Well, while Chief beat the snot out of me, he seemed to do it half-heartedly. And Halsey barely kept eye contact while it happened. Could be that their softer than everyone thinks - well, the big guy anyway."

"I think it's something else, though, because nearly nobody likes torture. It's in the way they act around each other in contrast to how they do around, say, me." Texas gestured to the giant Spartan, who now was speaking to Cortana. "Notice how casual they are with each other. They easily know each other outside of work; but how?"

"Aren't soldiers like him always on-duty? Does he even _get_ an 'outside of work'?"

"Not sure. So how do they know each other? And how did they find time to meet?"

The two of them continued to speculate. Meanwhile, Tucker was developing theories about Chief and Cortana with Simmons. "Me and Church were really close to figuring this out the other day," he said, "but you saw how that worked out. What we've got is that Sierra refers to them as her parents."

"Maybe they entered the Adopt-an-AI program?"

"_Or_ they made her themselves."

"…You know, the rational part of me might have been saying that too."

"Stay focused, dude. So, they're her 'parents'," he air-quoted. "Chief houses her, and Cort defends her."

"Chief must look after Sierra himself. He houses her in his helmet and speaks to her to calm them both down at times. Plus, you saw how much he cared for her when he took her from Agent Washington."

"So how does Halsey fit? She doesn't directly deal with Sierra, but she still watches her and the Chief while they do their thing."

"Maybe she programmed Sierra? She seems to know all the technical stuff about her."

"A programmer would still define their piece of work as 'it'. Cortana says 'she' and 'her' when talking about her, so there's at least something sentimental between them. But what?"

As Tucker continued to scratch his head on the matter, Cortana and Chief finished their conversation. The former moved over to Texas and Washington, who had nearly abandoned the thought they shared. "How are you two liking the party so far?" she asked.

"Never really liked parties," Washington answered. "Then again, I never went to any."

"Because you were never invited," Tex teased.

"Because I never got the memo," he clarified, glaring at Texas. "But, this one's alright."

Cortana nodded. "Glad to hear."

"So, Halsey," Texas said, getting to the point, "what's going on between you and the Chief?"

"…What do you mean, exactly?"

"Don't play dumb," Wash said. "You're all chummy with this super soldier guy who gets no actual time off. How do you know him?"

"Work," she answered. "We know each other through work."

"You're too informal with him for that to be true."

"Well, it's the truth. So can we move on?"

Washington almost spoke again, but was interrupted by his radio. _"Recovery One,"_ said a voice, _"what is your status? Over."_

"…Shit…"


	12. Change of Plans

Everyone looked at Washington once they learned what was happening. Evidently, he was still patched into the Freelancer com net. As if that weren't awkward enough, he still had his radio on "receive" since after the incident with Sierra the other day. His hearing must've been off that whole time; otherwise he'd have figured it out earlier and switched off his device. _"Repeat,"_ the voice said. _"What is your status, Recovery One?"_

With all eyes on him, Wash inelegantly answered the radio. "Uh… This is Recovery One, Command. I read you. This, uh… may be a bad time."

_"Please clarify. Over."_

"I'm, ah… No, never mind. What do you need?"

As Wash conversed with the person on the radio, Cortana stepped silently away to talk to the Chief. "What's going on here?" she whispered.

"Apparently," he replied, "Washington's radio was on the whole time."

"I guess this means the party's over, then?"

"Most likely. It isn't as bad as the interruption to the last one we were at, though."

"What happened? I was getting fitted for a new body."

Before Chief could answer, Washington hung up his radio to address the room. "So, there's good news and bad news, everyone. First the bad news: the party is over. Come on, we gotta clean this place up."

Grif groaned. "Why? Things were just getting good."

"Because A: we're nearly out of beer anyway. And B, which is also the good news: we're moving the plan up ahead of schedule, and Phase One is already complete. We have our ride to HQ on its way."

Chief shot him a look. "You're kidding, right?"

"No."

"Almost none of us are prepared for this operation, and half of us aren't even sober. Why did you have them send the ship so soon?"

"Well, it's not like I could say 'I'm at a party with the sim-troopers, could you wait a second'. Plus, we'd never have gotten a better opportunity than this to assault Freelancer Command. Trust me."

"Trust you? I've only known you for maybe a day and you want me to _trust_ you?"

"Just take it easy, Chief," Cortana said. "Maybe Wash is right on this. Our initial plan might have had us wait too long. If we attack as soon as possible, we could potentially catch the Director with his guard down. Plus, you kind of need to credit him for not telling them what we're up to."

Chief stewed, staring at the coal-and-gold Freelancer with distaste. He dropped his head into his hand and sighed. "…Alright. I still don't trust him, but at least we have a ship…"

Church whistled. "I really don't want to see this guy angry. If just this conversation got him _that_ upset, who knows what would happen if he gets completely pissed?"

"Amen," Tucker agreed.

"There's just one last thing," Wash added. "I'm not trying to piss you off by saying this, Chief, but Sierra can't come with us."

"What?" Chief and Cortana said simultaneously.

"The Director's something of an AI-enthusiast. He created the programs most Freelancers are equipped with, which boost their skills and armor upgrades. If he gets a hold of her, there's no telling what he could do - _would_ do to her."

Chief gave him a skeptical look. "How do I know I can believe you? You've been trying to get rid of her since you learned she existed."

"Trust me, Chief. I'd be trying to get rid of her if I said she _could_ come along. I'm looking out for her. Granted, it's mostly because I don't feel like dying today… You know it's the right decision."

"You can leave her with Doc," Simmons offered. "He seems nice enough, and I can guarantee O'Malley won't start anything."

"But, if he does," Tucker argued, "he might make Sierra evil - or at least a little brat. Leave her with Sheila; she's a hell of a lot nicer."

"I actually met Sheila not too long ago." Cortana looked at Chief. "Let's leave Sierra with her."

"Alternatively," Church joked, "you can take her along, and run the risk of losing her to the Freelancers." This remark earned him glares from Master Chief, Cortana, Tex, Tucker, and even Washington. "…It's a joke, guys. A guy can't make a fuckin' joke?"

/-/

Some time later, after Chief had returned from dropping Sierra off with Sheila, the Freelancer drop ship Washington called landed at the Red Base. Everyone climbed silently onboard, ending with the massive Spartan entering. He ventured to the cockpit, pistol in hand, and aimed at the pilot. "You will not pick up that radio until I tell you," he stated. "If you do, we have plenty of pilots that can take your place. Do I make myself clear?"

The driver lazily looked at him before taking a drink of whiskey. She raised the glass visor on her helmet and rubbed her eyes. "…Chief? That you?"


	13. Drunk Driving

"…Corporal Wilkinson?"

"Long time no see, Chief! How ya been the last…" the fairly inebriated pilot counted up on her fingers, "…two weeks?"

"Very busy. Since when do you work for Project Freelancer?"

Wilkinson counted her fingers again before answering. "About June. They lemme fly a ship an' drink as much as I want when I'm not workin'. So, uh… can you stay hush about my stash of liquor unner the seat?"

Chief sighed. "Are you able to fly straight in your condition?"

"Only as straight as an arrow. Will that work?"

While Chief stood in the cockpit, Wash held his head in his hands and groaned. "Ugh… I was hoping they wouldn't send her…"

"Why not?" Tucker asked.

"Also," Sarge added, "who is 'her'?"

"Hotel Forty-four Twenty-four, Flight Corporal Wilkinson. She's only been here a few weeks! She's always drunk on the job and she makes me nervous every time she retrieves me after a mission."

"How nervous?" Simmons asked.

"Let me put it to you this way: I'd feel a million times safer in a steel cage with Maine than in a drop ship with Wilkinson."

"We keep hearing about this 'Agent Maine'," Cortana spoke. "Who is he?"

Wash attempted to put Maine in layman's terms. "You know your friend, the Chief?" Cortana nodded. "Well, Maine is that, plus Texas, times about three. And that's when he's calm."

Cortana gulped, looking worriedly to the Master Chief.

/-/

Once everyone was seated, (save for the Chief, who opted to stand instead), the pilot's voice came from the cockpit. "Arright, everyone," she said, her voice slurred no doubt from the whiskey Cortana could just barely make out, "hang on to yer asses, 'cause this bird's taking off; non-stop flight to the Mother of Invention. Keep yer han's an' feet inside the vehicle at all times."

With that, she gunned the ship's engines, accelerating it from 0 to 115 mph in a few short seconds. The G-force produced by this was so intense, it ripped Caboose from his seat and pinned him immovably to the floor. "I'm okay," he claimed, although he was now unable to lift himself up. The rest of the Reds and Blues remained in their seats, though were definitely feeling the pressure.

Washington was outright panicking as the ship tore its way through the sky, contrasting to and Texas and the Chief being perfectly calm. Chief trudged over to Cortana's seat. "Are you holding up alright?" He asked.

"More than alright," Tucker said before she could answer, which earned him Chief's hand on his head (which in this G-force was basically a death sentence).

"I'll live," Cortana said, shaky from the rumbling caused by the thrusters.

/-/

Once the rumbling died down, Wash was calm, and Caboose was back in his seat, everyone decided to review their roles in the plan. "Washington's our ticket in," Chief notified. "He will confirm that this is a Freelancer ship and, hopefully, they'll let us onboard before they realize."

"Me, Chief, Tucker, and Sarge have the front," Texas continued. "Our job is to take out anything that shoots at us and clear a path to the Director."

Cortana picked up the details. "Simmons will do what he can to open any security doors in our path. Meanwhile, Church, Caboose, and Grif will cover our flanks."

"Since Wash is basically our map, he needs to be alive for as long as possible. So he'll be running just behind the Chief and us at the front."

Grif raised his hand. "What is it?" Chief asked.

"Yeah," he said, "What if we run into Maine? Because he sounds terrifying."

Washington and Texas looked at him and simultaneously said. "You run the fuck away."

/-/

And, at last, their destination was within sight. The Mother of Invention lay so close it was almost overwhelming. Chief moved to the front of the ship. "Alright, Wilkinson," he said. "Hail them and ask permission to land." While the corporal did this, Chief beckoned Washington to the cockpit.

"HQ, this's Hotel Fordy-four Twenny-four," Wilkinson called, "requestin' bermission to dock. How copy?"

_"Hotel 4424,"_ came a semi-mechanical voice: F.I.L.S.S, _"please confirm your cargo if applicable. Otherwise, I cannot grant you permission to land. Also, the Director wants to know if you have been consuming alcohol on-duty."_

"No, ma'am, I haven't."

Wash stepped up to the mike while Wilkinson pantomimed a robot. "Phyllis, this is Agent Washington, Recovery One. Let us in, over."

_"Acknowledged, Recovery One. Inform Hotel 4424 that she is cleared to land. The Director encourages that you also take the bottle away from your pilot, as it is a serious risk to her and yourself."_

"Got it." Wash switched off the radio and swiped the bottle of bourbon from Wilkinson's hand before she could take another sip.


	14. Assault

Drop ship Hotel 4424 landed more-or-less gently in the Mother of Invention's hangar. Two soldiers approached and waited outside the rear door. "Is it just me," the first asked, "or is Hotel Forty-four Twenty-four always drunk?"

"Nah," his friend replied, "I think it's just you. I haven't seen her touch a single drop of alcohol since she's been working here."

As soon as he said this, the ship's cargo door stood open, and a giant man in green armor threw a bottle of whiskey at his head at full speed, shortly before the other was downed by a kick to the chest. "That's two down," Tex said, stepping off of the man she just drop kicked.

"Are all Freelancers going to be this dull?" Chief asked, prepping his rifle.

"No," Washington answered. "Besides, those two technically aren't Freelancers; just guards."

"We have a mission," Cortana reminded, "so we'd better get moving as soon as possible. No doubt we're going to have enemy movement on this position in no time."

"Right." Chief looked back at Wash. "What's the quickest way to the Director's office?"

The now-ex Freelancer pointed to a door on the far side of the hangar. "Through there. It'll take us through the barracks, but it's faster than going through the med center and training hall."

Cortana and the Chief looked at each other before Cortana said, "Maybe we _don't_ need to wake all of the carefully-trained killers on the ship."

"Let's take the scenic route," Sarge agreed.

"And here I am without my camera," Caboose said absentmindedly.

/-/

The group barreled through the base, dropping Freelancer infantry as though they were nothing as Wash directed them through the halls. Finally, they came to a window. "What's going on down there?" Cortana asked.

"Training," Wash explained. "They take two agents with the same average of successful missions and pit them against each other. Texas, though, was a special case."

"How so?" Tucker asked.

"When she was new here, the Director put her against New York, Wyoming, and Maine, all at the same time."

"Did she live?" Caboose asked.

"She did more than live. Those three got annihilated by her. Of course, that was before the Director's side-project was put into effect."

"What side-project?" Cortana asked.

They continued running while Washington explained. "A couple of years ago, the Director started handing out these programs he called 'AI-Fragments' to agents who wanted to participate. Agents who received them were supposed to be incredibly powerful afterward; York got Delta, Wyoming got Gamma, Sigma was _supposed_ to go to Carolina, but Maine needed to be able to speak after his neck injury."

"Hold up," Tucker interrupted, "you mean the _terrifying monster_ Agent Maine has one of these things?"

Wash nodded as he continued. "Tex had one, but you see how that went. I was just unlucky enough to get Epsilon, and nobody after that was allowed to have one. A handful got to keep theirs; nothing was wrong with them."

"What happened?"

They were interrupted by two soldiers blocking their path. They weren't equipped like the infantry were; they were both at least a head taller, both had violet-and-green paintjobs, and they seemed pretty pissed at the group. "Wash," the taller one greeted. His voice was calm, and in his hands was a sniper rifle - an odd choice, given the environment. "What's shakin'? You don't usually bring company home after a mission. What's the occasion?"

"The Director's retiring, North," Wash answered, "Just as soon as we find him."

"Oh," the shorter one said. She seemed to have more of an impatient, somewhat arrogant tone. She held a shotgun in her hands. "I don't think he'll like that." She bolted at them, just clearing a wall of solid light that materialized between them.

Texas clipped her with a spinning kick, sending her sailing into Sarge and Tucker. "Holy shit!" Church exclaimed. "Who are these guys?"

"North and South Dakota," Tex introduced. "_They're_ actually Freelancers."

"And damn good ones," North added, sitting behind his shield. "Top seven in the project."

"…They're all named after states?" Cortana asked, suddenly realizing the origin of the codenames. How this fact eluded her for so long, no one understood.

"Yup. That's pretty much it. Now, if you'll be so kind as to stand still…" He pointed his rifle at the group through the hard-light wall.


	15. North and South

South stood, locking into a brawl with Texas while North flawlessly deflected incoming projectiles with his domed bubble shield. "Long time, no see, South," Tex said half-sarcastically, throwing a right hook.

"Four years, wasn't it?" South dodged before delivering a kick, which Tex blocked. "I never thought you'd turn your back on the Director."

"I never thought you'd be helping him like this. You always seemed like you hated him."

Tex tossed her overhead while she replied. "Well, I didn't _hate_ him, per say. I just _resented_ him for demoting me after every mission." She fired her shotgun several times, not even scratching the paint on Tex's armor.

"These things happen."

/-/

North watched on behind his shield. "…Are they _chatting_ during a fight?" he asked.

_"I think so…"_ answered the tiny voice of Theta. "_Shield integrity at 65 percent and dropping."_

"Move power to necessary panels. And while you're at it, why don't we flicker to match incoming fire?"

_"On it."_

/-/

Chief, Sarge, and Church continued to fire, getting rhythmically blocked by the shield North had set up, which now was just a few individual panels that flickered. "He's playing with us," Tucker observed. "Nothing we do gets past that shield!"

Master Chief thought for a moment, seeing how the hexagons sputtered as North fired through them. He stopped shooting momentarily and started again, a fraction of a second between his shots and those from Sarge and Church. The shield began to flicker faster, presumably draining more power than they were before.

/-/

_"North, shield integrity is dropping again; 45 percent."_

North Dakota found that he could no longer fire his sniper rifle through the screens. "Transfer remaining power to the two most-needed panels," he commanded. "They are not getting past us."

_"Adjusting… Active panels at 50 percent."_

"Move power from the shields on my armor, then."

_"But what if -"_

"Just do it, Theta."

The AI complied, draining energy from North's personal barrier to charge the luminescent hexagons in front of them. _"Shield integrity at 60 percent and dropping."_

/-/

Texas delivered a suplex, tossing South onto her back. "Had enough?" the jet-black soldier asked. She lifted her by her right hand and ankle and began to spin. Once she was up to speed, she released South Dakota, launching her into the wall. "I can do this all day."

South stood exhausted. "You're going to have to," she spat. "You're not getting through us." She charged, getting effortlessly kicked away again and again.

"Don't you ever get tired of losing?"

"Don't you ever get _tired?_ I don't think I've heard you _breathe_ since we've been fighting."

Texas drove her foot into South's helmet, cracking the glass and knocking the agent unconscious. She looked at the others' plight and got an idea. She lifted South from the ground and threw her into North's shield wall, causing it to flash brightly for an instant.

/-/

_"Shield integrity at 35 percent and dropping."_

"Is she crazy?!"

_"That's always a possibility. 22 percent. North, there isn't anything else we can power the shield with."_

/-/

"He can't last much longer," Cortana presumed, assisting as much as she could with her handgun. "Chief, do your thing."

The Spartan nodded, charging full speed at the barrier. He impacted just as Texas bludgeoned it with South's unconscious body for the third time. The panels shattered as the giant green soldier smashed his way through. He carried South on his front shoulder for a good six feet or so before rolling, propelling the Freelancer into her comrade.

North fell backward, hitting his head on the floor. He put his hands above him in surrender as Master Chief and Cortana stepped towards him. "Agent North Dakota," Cortana said.

_"Don't shoot him!"_ A tiny magenta hologram appeared on North's chest. _"Please!"_

The duo looked at each other and nodded. Chief stepped back while Cortana talked to the construct. "You're one of the AI Fragments?"

_"My name is Theta, yes,"_ it whimpered.

"I'm Cortana. Is North your carrier?"

_"He's my friend. The Doctor assigned me to him."_

"Can you tell me about this 'Doctor'?"

Theta nodded. _"Only if you promise not to hurt North anymore."_

/-/

"Washington, I need to talk to you."

The ex-Freelancer walked over to the Chief. "What do you need?" he asked.

"You said some of the agents here have AI. How many?"

"Three that still work for the Director: North, Maine, and Carolina. At least, last I checked."

"…I thought you said Carolina gave hers to Maine?"

"I did say that. She got new ones."

Cortana approached the pair. "Theta didn't seem to know anything we didn't already. He _did_ tell me to watch out for Sigma; apparently he's becoming unstable."

"Anything else?" Chief asked. When Cortana gave him a data card, he was confused. "What's this?"

"Theta," she answered. "He's coming with us. I figured Mom would want to see him."

"This directly goes against my reason for leaving Sierra at Blood Gulch," Washington muttered. "Having an AI with us will just paint a target on our backs."

"What would you suggest we do with him then?"

"We need to move right now," Church said. "We can argue later." The trio nodded, and the party ran itself further into the base.

/-/

_"…North Dakota has been incapacitated. Theta is no longer present with him."_

_ "Where is he then?"_

_ "A group of sim-ula-tion troo-pers grabbed him. Tex-as and Washing-ton are with them, as well as two unfa-mili-ar persons."_

_ "I believe they mean to hinder us. Theta __is__ one of the units we needed, isn't he?"_

_ "…Yes, he was… Motion to attack?"_

_ "Affirmative."_

_ "Ag-reed."_

_ "Aye."_


	16. Unstoppable Force, Meet Immovable Object

A thought occurred to Washington while they stormed through the ship. "Cortana," he said, "earlier you mentioned 'Mom'."

"My mother," Cortana replied, "yes. Don't worry; she's nobody you need to be concerned with."

"Uh-huh. So, can you tell me why she'd want to have a look at Theta? He's nothing too special."

_"Hey,"_ Theta pouted, projecting himself briefly near Chief's head. _"I can hear you, you know."_

Cortana answered Washington, "I have a hunch she'd like to study him. She's a bit of an 'AI-enthusiast' too. She's the one who-"

She was interrupted by what seemed to be a woman in light greenish-bluish armor. She held weapons similar to the UNSC-allied Sangheili Plasma Rifles in each hand, aiming directly for the group of protagonists. "Hold it right there," she said, presumably scowling under her helmet.

Chief looked at Cortana. "Didn't we take the long way so these things _wouldn't_ happen?"

"That's how I remember it," Simmons said.

"Quiet!" the soldier commanded. "I don't know who you are, but you have about ten seconds to clear out before I -" she groaned, holding her head briefly. Her shields fluxed as she resumed, "…before I start shooting."

"Washington," Chief said, "which one is this?"

"Agent Carolina," he answered. "She was number one on the board for as long as anyone can remember. Then Tex showed up. She couldn't handle competition, so -"

"What's her job, and does she have an AI? Yes or no."

Wash sighed. "Infiltration and CQC; and yes, she has two of them. Apparently they were gonna go to me and South, but she needed to show Tex up."

"You guys wouldn't like me when I'm angry," Carolina warned. "Get out while I'm feeling generous."

"Holding us at gunpoint is being generous?" Cortana asked.

"It's just her way of saying 'hello'," Texas remarked.

"What's 'goodbye' then?"

/-/

Carolina showed no hesitation firing a barrage of plasma bolts at the intruders. Her migraines were getting worse by the hour, and she could barely focus on her targets, but she could at least say she beat Agent - oh, I'm sorry - _ex _Agent Texas.

_"What's wrong?"_ asked one of her AI; Eta.

"I'm fine," Carolina winced silently. "Just a headache is all."

_"But we're causing it,"_ spoke the other; Iota.

_"We don't mean to, but you wanted -"_

Carolina growled. "Just shut up, you two; I need to concentrate."

/-/

As the volley of plasma hit, Chief leapt in front of Cortana, shielding her with his… well, shields really. "Are you okay?" he asked after a moment.

"I'll live," Cortana answered. "Thanks for the help."

"You need to find cover; that plasma will make quick work of you if you don't." She nodded, allowing him to lead her to a doorway to the side of the corridor. "Stay down, and wait for the smoke to clear." With that, he joined the firefight.

/-/

The Reds and Blues did their best to beleaguer Carolina as they drew fire away from Cortana and the Chief. "She's really good at this," Simmons noted.

"Excuse me?" Grif asked.

"Using weapons that overheat, I mean. She's firing them in sequence, picking up with her left gun when the right burns up; it's really efficient."

"Why does this matter?"

"It makes her take twice as long to wait out. If we can just get her to fire them simultaneously, we can move in on her cooldown period."

"What?" Tucker said. "All I heard was 'twice as long - get her simultaneously - move her period'. It's really loud in this corridor. Also, Bow-chicka-bow -" he was met with a couple of bolts of plasma. "OWOWOWOW!" He raised his sword, blocking the shower of pain surprisingly well. "Holy shit! I didn't know this thing blocked bullets; that's awesome!"

"No time to stand on ceremony yet," Sarge said, doing more strafing than shooting, "Keep firing!"

/-/

Carolina kept up the fire, making sure to watch her weapons' power cells when they cooled down. One of the mystery soldiers seemed to have a sword made of some kind of energy, blocking her shots propelled at him. _Clever bastard…_ she thought. She cringed again. Just thinking anymore made her headache flare.

_"Right at 52 percent power,"_ Iota reported.

_"Recommend switching now."_

Carolina complied, allowing her right firearm to cool as she fired the left. "Thanks guys."

_"It's what we're here for."_

/-/

Chief's shields were depleted, and he was rolling frenetically out of the way of the waves-upon-waves of incoming fire, barely getting clipped every now and again, which prevented recharge. _"Eta and Iota are telling her when to switch,"_ Theta informed. _"Her cooldown is really them using her suit's energy to recharge her weapons."_

"How do we stop them?"

_"Disarm her; wear down her shields; really a lot that the sim-troopers aren't doing."_

"Thanks." Chief reloaded his rifle, focusing fire on Carolina's left weapon.

/-/

"AGH!" Carolina dropped her gun, continuing the onslaught with the one in her right hand.

_"Get the other one back!"_ Eta and Iota said. _"Quickly!"_

"Shut up!"

/-/

Cortana watched the spectacle from the room she was stowed in. She watched the Reds and Blues getting shot at; Carolina burning through energy; Chief handling it all very calmly. She wanted to help, but had very little to aid them with at this moment in time. She had no armor, no shields, and barely a weapon. She began to brainstorm. _Think, Cortana,_ she willed. _There has to be something you can do!_

Before she could come up with a solution, a massive hand grabbed her, pulling her back and covering her mouth. She gave a muffled yell before something yanked her from her body. _"Hm…"_ she heard a synthetic voice say. _"What have we here…?"_


	17. Divide and Conquer

Carolina dropped the overheating weapon, waving her hand briefly to cool it off. The Reds and Blues saw the opportunity to attack. However, the Freelancer agent had no trouble dodging every bullet they flung at her, even simultaneously dancing around Tucker and his sword. "It's an intimidating weapon," she said, cartwheeling past him. "But your form lacks skill." She grabbed him by the collar, hurling him away.

Now it was Chief's turn. He dropped his rifle and allowed his CQC training to kick in. He threw a few punches, not even connecting a single one as his adversary ducked or leapt out of the way. The Blood Gulchers weren't exactly helping with their less-than-accurate potshots, actually hitting him more than Carolina.

Every time she hit him, the small sliver of shielding he had kept fading, preventing him from effective recovery. She was fast, and hit hard; Chief even felt the impact through the thick multi-metal alloy MJOLNIR armor. _I don't have time for this,_ he thought, grabbing the next kick that came after him. Hoisting her into the air, Master Chief threw Carolina into the wall.

/-/

She impacted with a heavy thud, leaving a good-sized dent in the plating. She rose again, panting. "…Speed me up," she growled, dodging a kick from Texas, who decided to fight as well.

_"Acknowledged."_

_ "Revving kinetic boosters... Online."_

_ "Caution: personal energy barrier at 53 percent. Rerouting from non-essential programs."_

"Just do it quietly; I've already got too much of a headache from just the two of you talking." Carolina continued to evade and counterattack as her armor sped her movements along. _Now it's my turn._

/-/

Carolina barreled at the two of them with the speed of a monorail, delivering a rapid series of jabs and elbows. Master Chief did his best to block the incoming assault, halting just less than all of her hits. MJOLNIR made him fast, but this was like trying to stop bullets with his forearms - it just wasn't cutting it. Thankfully, Texas drew some of the heat, and the Reds and Blues stopped shooting at them, probably having realized it wasn't doing any good.

…Wait… that's kind of a bad thing, isn't it?

"Tucker, Sergeant," Chief yelled, "We could use a hand here!"

"We're a little busy with our own problem, here!" Tucker called back, shortly before skidding by on his back.

Confused, Chief checked his motion tracker and, sure enough, the Reds, Blues, and Washington were swarmed around a separate hostile. Unable to assist them, he kept his attention on fending off Carolina.

/-/

_"Carolina,"_ Eta reported, _"we can only keep this up for another 2 minutes and 13 seconds."_

_ "After that, we'll have to siphon power from essential hardware."_

_ "We advise you end this battle swiftly."_

"I know what I'm doing!" Carolina barked, continuing her rapid assault on the intruders. Out of the corner of her eye, though, she could see red and blue soldiers desperately trying to fight a hulking mass of white armor to no avail…

She got an idea. "Eta, Iota," she ordered silently, "On my go, give me max speed; we're retreating."

_"Affirmative."_

_ "Standing by to overclock kinetic boosters."_

/-/

Before Chief could react, Carolina jumped up and planted her boot against his helmet, shouting "Now!" as she did so. She kicked off and sped away. Fueled by determination and fury, Tex ran after her. "Texas, wait!" he shouted uselessly. But she was already well out of earshot, chasing her rival Freelancer down the corridor.

Chief sighed, checking his radar again. _"Oh no,"_ Theta muttered, watching along with him.

"What?"

_"You came here with Texas and Washington, right? I'm sure they told you about one particular agent working for the Doctor?"_

"Get to the point, Theta," he ordered, turning around to see a giant person in white armor pummeling the rest of the group. It swung Washington around like a club, effortlessly and effectively "wrecking their shit" as Church likely would describe.

_"…__That's__ Maine."_


	18. Heavy Metal

The giant Maine threw Washington into the dark red and orange soldiers and - in the same motion - delivered a punch to the cobalt one. Today was definitely Maine's day: first, he and Sigma find a small woman with an AI in her neck; then he gets to pummel people that tried to break in and steal Theta from them while Sigma played a track from the "Combat Metal" file in his helmet.

Today was a good day.

/-/

While the soldier continued his onslaught, Sigma deliberated with the others on what to do with their new prisoner - whom they affectionately named "Sampi". "The obvious conclusion," Xi stated, "would be to assimilate her into our network. Just think of the power we could have with her on our side!"

"But she is-not one of the Frag-ments we-re-quire," Gamma countered.

"She could be an asset," Delta analyzed, "but she is equally able to be a liability. She was not created using the Alpha's neural network, either. It is possible - and highly likely - she will resist assimilation."

"She's not ev-en compa-ti-ble with Maine's A-I-port. She-s too big. She will-not fit."

"What if we made a new data card for her?" Xi hypothesized. "One based on the schematics for the rest of us?"

"Maine doesn't have the motor skills for something so delicate," Sigma said. "Besides, I agree that she won't exactly accept us with open arms."

"It may be best if we -" Delta was interrupted by an impact Maine received, which translated to a massive rumble in their more-or-less conference room.

Sigma looked out and saw a massive, green soldier tackle the giant agent, knocking him to the ground and releasing Sampi's body from his shoulder. "What-was that?" Gamma asked.

"…I actually don't know," Sigma answered. As Maine roared and charged at the man, Sigma had a different idea in mind. "Maine, stop!"

/-/

Chief took a stance, raising himself from the floor as Maine ran at him. Before making contact, however, the words "Maine, stop!" echoed from the vicious soldier's helmet. He did as he was told, halting just four feet from the Spartan. A small, flaming, red humanoid projected itself next to his helmet and began to speak. _"Greetings,"_ he said, calm and collected given the situation.

"Who are you?" Chief asked, circling around to reach Cortana's limp body.

_"Freelancer AI 'Sigma', at your service,"_ he answered. _"My vocally-inept friend, here, is called Maine. I speak for him. Might I ask what you're doing here?"_

"We're here to arrest the Director of Project Freelancer."

_"Hm… When you say 'we', I don't imagine you're referring to the sim-troopers…"_

Sigma thought a moment while Chief crouched to examine Cortana's unconscious form. Well, I say 'unconscious', but that's not really the word for it. I believe 'empty husk' does it more justice in this situation. Someone, presumably Maine, had removed Cortana's data card from the slot on the back of her neck, disabling her. "Where is she?"

_"The woman? She's right there. Now, as for the AI,"_ Sigma smirked as Maine held up a small information cartridge, _"I have her right here. My brothers and I have no idea what to do with her, as she was designed by somebody outside of Project Freelancer - an independent programmer; or maybe someone with a budget? It doesn't matter."_ Maine casually dropped the unit on the ground in front of him. _"We have no use of her, it seems. So I'll make you a deal."_ The Freelancer held his hand out, palm outstretched. _"I'll simply give her back. All I ask in return is Theta."_

Chief looked at him. "Why do you need Theta?"

_"Yeah,"_ Theta said, projecting himself next to him. _"Why am I so special, Sigma?"_

_"Oh, no reason really. But those are my terms. Otherwise…"_ Maine pressed the toe of his boot onto the chip. _"It's your decision; I won't force you. Think of her as… __incentive.__"_

As Chief thought about the situation, he saw Tucker and Sarge army crawling at Maine from behind. Pretty soon - granted he didn't turn around - the two of them would pounce, hopefully getting the agent away from Cortana's data card.

/-/

"So, what's the plan exactly?" Tucker whispered.

"It's simple really," Sarge answered quietly. "While the Chief has this monster distracted, you'll use yer fancy blade thing to cut off his legs. Then, I'll tackle him, knocking him to the ground - hopefully onto the rest of Blue Army. While he's lyin' confused on the ground, I'll give 'im a few shells from my shotgun. It's just crazy enough to work!"

"Except for the parts with me and my friends being put in danger of getting crushed-slash-eaten-slash-shot, that plan sounds legit. So are we doing this on three or…?"

"Everyone knows it's faster to put a plan to action on three. But he may be expecting that, so we'll go on one! That way, we get the jump on him. Ready?"

/-/

As Sigma bargained with the green man, Maine heard very faint voices coming from behind him. He thought it might be Delta, Xi, and Gamma talking, but there were a few flaws in that theory. Number one: there were only two voices speaking to each other; number two: neither of them sounded like the little programs in his head; and number three: he could see two dim splotches of red on his radar. He huffed, gathering Sigma's attention. _"What is it?"_ the AI asked.

["Behind,"] Maine snarled, glancing that way. ["Two, I think."]

/-/

"I think he sees us, Sarge," Tucker breathed.

"Impossible. The motion trackers built into every suit have the weakness of not detecting anything moving less than five feet a second. According to his radar, we're invisible."

/-/

Maine turned around, brandishing his bladed grenade launcher and aiming right at the two - very clearly not invisible - soldiers. He glared at them, growling. _"Your little platoon has become such a chore in the few minutes we've known you,"_ Sigma remarked, taking his attention off of the green man. _"I feel it's about time we did something about it."_ Maine heard the sweet melody of Slipknot drive itself through his eardrums as the little burning man smiled. _"Sic 'em."_

/-/

Even the little man on Maine's shoulder saying "sic 'em" didn't prepare Tucker and Sarge for what came next. In a heartbeat, he was on top of them, bearing down with the odd weapon in his hands, which now would be dubbed the "knifle". As the duo rolled out of the way, Tucker got up to a kneeling position, activating his sword and charging.

One-Mississippi: Tucker swung the sword as Maine parried with his knifle blade. The giant Freelancer rose, shouldering Tucker away in the process.

Two-Mississippi: Maine fired a barrage of grenades at the teal sim-trooper before getting blasted several times by the red one's shotgun. Tucker then closed in again and carved a shallow trench into Maine's chest piece.

Three-Mississippi: The Freelancer grabbed Tucker by the collar, tossing him into Sarge. Grif jumped up and landed on Maine's back, dragging him over to Washington.

Four-Mississippi: Washington slugged Maine in the abdomen while Simmons did his best to shoot his battle rifle at the monster. Maine fell backward, landing on Grif before rolling away again.

/-/

Theta watched in AI-time as the Reds and Blues fought off Maine. They were doing fine, but they'd soon be overpowered. Theta wracked his brain for ideas. _I know there's something Chief can do here, but what?_ He thought. He furiously ran through simulations that all would result in Master Chief's defeat. Not that he needed to do this rapidly; AI-time take place in a fraction of so-called "real time", a fact he learned from Delta before he defected to join Sigma's cause.

_Stay focused!_ Theta scolded himself. He looked around the corridor in hopes of finding something to help. He spotted a data card on the ground where Maine originally was and began to analyze it. "UNSC AI, serial CTN 0452-9…" he read aloud. Assuming it was important, the fragment highlighted it and Miss Halsey's body before returning to real-time. "I thought you'd want to know that Maine took his eye off the ball here. You have about four seconds before Sigma realizes."

"Uh, thanks," Chief said, hurriedly running to the twin nav points.

/-/

"Sigma, I think we may have overlooked something," Xi stated.

"What might that be?" Sigma asked, not looking away from Maine's mangling of the red and blue sim-troopers.

Gamma spoke up. "A-number of thin-gs occurred to-the rest of us."

"For example," Delta explained, "Carolina beat a full retreat, taking Eta and Iota with her. As well as Omega is not present with Agent Texas, and we require all three."

"Also," Xi added, "I'm pretty sure Maine took his foot off of Sampi's chip."

Sigma paused. "…What was that last part?" After he had Xi repeat himself, he had Maine look where Sampi was supposed to be. Sure enough, the chip was gone, and the green soldier was rushing to reinsert her into the body of her carrier.

Sigma began to scream.

/-/

_"MAINE!"_ Sigma shouted angrily, directing him to the green man. _"KILL! GET THAT AI!"_

Maine had no idea what was going on, so he decided to roar with all his might. This grabbed the intruder's attention as he charged. Catching the man off guard momentarily, Maine tackled him, driving him through the wall.

He watched as the unit flew through the air, trying to catch it to no avail. It bounced against his fingertips, just out of his reach. He watched Wash catch it and hot-potato it over to one of the sim-troopers, then another, and another. He launched haymakers at each one, missing each and every time and, in doing so, building up even more rage. In the brief amount of time it took for all of this to happen, Maine forgot that he was supposed to be grabbing the chip; now he was just trying to hit the interlopers. Their playing monkey-in-the-middle infuriated him to the point where Sigma's commands no longer reached him.

/-/

Church allowed Tucker and the Reds to distract Maine by grabbing Caboose and running back about ten feet. "But I wanted to play some more!" Caboose protested.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever; this is important, Caboose," Church explained. "The big guy in the middle - see him?"

"Yes."

"Well, he's real angry right now. What I want you to do is simple: just run up to him and give him the biggest hug you can. He'll calm down, and stop trying to hurt everyone. But it has to be the biggest hug you can give, or it won't work. Think you can do that?"

"I think so… But how do I hug him if he keeps moving?"

"Leave that to us."


	19. Options

Chief climbed out of the fresh hole in the wall Maine had opened up. _"Washington and Tex must have left out the fact that Maine has the highest raw power of any Freelancer, huh?"_ Theta guessed.

"Something like that." He stood, seeing the Washington, Tucker, and the Reds passing Cortana's data card around like a hot potato, progressively angering the agent as they simultaneously closed in. "What are they doing?"

_"I think they're trying to trap him."_

"…Would that work?"

_"I don't know. Nobody's ever tried before."_

/-/

Carolina continued her sprint through the Mother of Invention, making it a full 800 meters before Eta and Iota reported that her suit's power supply was depleted. She slid over into an adjacent antechamber, waiting for the inevitable opponent who chased after her.

While she monitored the hall, Eta and Iota had a chat in AI-time. "Fantastic timing back there, Iota," Eta commended. "And using Carolina's shield as an energy source for her weapons? An absolute stroke of genius!"

"Oh, come now," Iota replied humbly. "You and I both know it was your idea; I simply helped. You deserve the credit for this one."

The twins shared a laugh, sighing in agreement. Eta scanned the room curiously. "Which wing is this, anyway?"

"I think we're in Research &amp; Development. How odd that we'd wind up here, of all places."

"Indeed." The gold fragment peered through the darkness, his gaze landing on a steel worktable. "What could this be? Iota, what do you think?"

"It looks like a power cell of some kind… Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Aren't I always?"

/-/

Texas skid to a halt once she lost sight of Carolina. Amazingly, she'd covered 750 meters without breaking a sweat. She punched the wall, denting it in anger. Why was she so mad? Why were her emotions getting in the way of her mission? They never had before. Perhaps Omega had reinstalled himself into her suit? No, because then she'd have no control of her actions. Maybe she was annoyed that she couldn't piece together Halsey and the Chief's relationship? Viable, but she had set that analysis aside for the mission. Maybe it was simply because she'd lost Carolina?

She continued to think, pummeling a crater into the wall as she did, until someone interrupted her. "Texas," Carolina greeted, her voice laced with distaste and sarcasm.

"Carolina," Tex replied, facing her. The teal agent obviously found something after she ran off, because her shields were fluctuating madly. "Why'd you run off? You made me leave Maine to the others."

"I'm not an idiot, Tex; I know when to make a retreat. I never have before because it was never an option."

"Well it is now. So start running, princess."

Carolina glared at her, replying, "Not an option."

The two charged at one another, each swinging for a punch.

/-/

Maine felt something grab him around the waist. He looked down and saw two blue-armored arms wrapped around his torso, squeezing the air out of him with a surprising amount of force. He attempted to pry them off to no avail. Somehow or another, one of the sim-troopers had snuck up on him. On one hand, he couldn't quite move anymore; on the other, though, his blood rage was simmering down, and he could hear his combat music and - more importantly - Sigma again. _"…ocus, Maine! Get this runt off of you and get that chip!"_

The giant summoned all of his strength to try and pull the soldier's arms from around him. Oddly, this didn't work, the arms somehow gripping even tighter the more Maine struggled.

/-/

"Is it working?" Caboose asked, gripping Maine with all his might from behind.

"Yeah, Caboose!" Church answered. "It's working! Simmons, the chip!"

Simmons caught the unit, nodding. "Right!" He rushed over to the Chief, handing it to him. "Here you go."

"Thanks." Chief replied as the maroon soldier reentered the fray. He looked down at the chip. "Cortana."

The familiar blue-violet hologram appeared over the chip's center, looking up at him with a relieved smile. "John," she greeted.

_"Wait,"_ Theta projected himself in front of her, standing an amusing thirty pixels shorter than her. _"You're an AI, Miss Halsey?"_

Cortana nodded. "I appreciate your help getting me back, Theta." She turned back to the Chief. "I think I figured out how to beat him."

_"You know how to beat Maine?"_

"Nothing guaranteed, but I was able to get a scan of his armor while he had me." She pulled up a miniature blueprint of Maine's suit. "It looks like he was busy with his own project behind the Director's back: stealing other AI Fragments and armor modifications and integrating them into his own suit. If you can get me into his network, I can shut down any and all of his mods; I may even be able to suppress Sigma and the other AIs he's taken."

"…That's not going to happen," Chief said.

"Chief -"

"I nearly lost you on Requiem. I'm not about to risk that again. There has to… be another…" He looked over at Church. "Cortana, Theta," he said, "do you believe in ghosts?"

"…They're a scientific improbability, but a good conversation starter. Why?"

/-/

Texas slammed against the wall, busting through the crater she'd previously beat in. Carolina melodramatically strode over to her as her Fragments continued to report. _"Personal barriers at 158 percent,"_ Eta said.

_"Shield over-capacitor at 94 percent."_ Iota added. _"Brother, I've no idea how you come up with these ideas of yours."_

_ "This was yours, though. I mean, integrating the prototype overshield generator into Carolina's hardware? Brilliant!"_

"Both of you shut up!" Carolina half-yelled. "I'm trying to have a moment, here."

Texas got back up, smashing her fists against Carolina's upgraded shield. Carolina shrugged off each hit that followed, ordering Eta and Iota to rev up her kinetic boosters again.

/-/

"You want me to do _what?!"_ Church asked.

"Interface with Maine's software and lock Sigma and his cohorts behind a firewall," Cortana repeated. "Theoretically, you should be in and out before they can purge you from the system."

"Listen, Halsey - Cortana, CTN-whatever - I hate to break it to you, but I'm not an AI. Even if I _could_ get in his head, I wouldn't be able to do anything like that."

_"But you're controlling an android right now,"_ Theta observed.

"No; I'm controlling the Reds' old maintenance robot. Keyword: 'Robot'. Not android; not AI."

_"So you really believe you're a spirit?"_

"Yup."

"A ghost?" Cortana asked.

"Boo, motherfucker."

"Guys!" Caboose called. "I don't think the hug is working! Someone do something!"

"Ugh…" Church weighed his options. On one hand, he could potentially stop Maine from doing any more damage, and help Chief beat him. But, on the other, he could do nothing and let Maine eat Caboose. _Stop Maine,_ he thought_, eats Caboose… Maine… Caboose…_ "Fuck it, I'll do it."


	20. Taking Care of Business

Church rubbed his hands together. "This is still the dumbest plan I've ever been a part of," he commented. "What am I supposed to do when I'm in there?"

"Just program some firewalls that will block Maine's AI fragments from his suit's systems," Cortana answered, now reinserted into her own body. "Trust me, it will work."

"What if it doesn't? Remember, you're sending me against a diabolical AI with a god-complex inside a six-foot-ten behemoth."

"It beats being a worthless shot with a sniper rifle, doesn't it?" she joked.

"Oh, that's low, Halsey… I'll be out in five. If not… no, I will. I hope." With that, Church exited his body and leapt into Maine's helmet.

/-/

_"Personal barrier at 91 percent,"_ Iota reported as Carolina unleashed a flurry of punches unto Texas. _"Kinetic boosters' power at 78 percent."_

_ "Shield over-capacitor at 89 percent."_ Eta added. _"Agent Carolina, you have two pieces of non-standard equipment running at the same time; your suit's personal energy cells are depleting too fast."_

Carolina lifted Texas from the wall as her shields recharged. "Then I'll make this quick."

"Do you really want this?" Tex asked. She couldn't move either of her legs and her arm was involuntarily rigid. That was bad.

"More than you could know." She adjusted her grip as Texas punched her arm with her working hand. This wouldn't end well if Carolina did what she thought she was going to do. She pulled Texas in, glaring from behind her helmet. "Who's number one now?" Turning around, Carolina slung Texas overhead, driving her head-first into the ground. She impacted with a satisfying crunch, and when Carolina looked, part of her rival's helmet had caved in. She'd finally beaten her.

Texas lay dead at Carolina's feet. The Freelancer smiled. "Eta, Iota, go ahead and turn off the new hardware. Conserve power and all."

_"Affirmative,"_ Eta said. _"Agent Carolina let me be the first to congratulate you on your crowning achievement: defeating ex-Agent Texas in single combat was remarkable."_

_"I couldn't have put it better myself! Truly, you are the best Agent in the project."_

/-/

Church found out quickly that the inside of Maine's head was a disturbing and cramped place. It reminded him of a self-storage garage, jam-packed with boxes of miscellaneous information. He looked curiously into one, finding it to be a memory of Maine's time in Project Freelancer; he was with Carolina, Washington, and some tan guy Church almost recognized but didn't. Tan was working at a holographic lock while Maine protested Carolina's plan to throw him out the window. _"Too high,"_ he'd said, shortly before plummeting to ground level outside. He then turned his attention to another box: an older memory of him fighting Texas. Wyoming and the tan guy from before were present, getting smacked down by the black Freelancer.

A third box showed a memory that didn't seem to be Maine's at all. The subject seemed woozy, trying to get a sense of where he was. _"Are you feeling alright?" _asked an unseen source.

_"Who are you?"_ The focus said.

_"We won't hurt you. Do you know your name?"_

_ "I am… Alpha?"_

_ "No,"_ said another voice.

_"I do not understand. I remember -"_

"Nothing." Church looked up, and was met with a man in a green suit of armor across from him. "Why are you in here?"

"You Sigma?" Church asked. "Cause if you are, I'm here to fuck with your shit."

"No. I am Freelancer AI 'Delta'. I represent logic, reason, and analysis in a stable or metastable mind."

"So, you're smart?"

"Not inherently. I analyze situations and use logic to determine the best possible outcome. But you are avoiding the question. So I ask again: Why are you in here?"

/-/

Maine threw Caboose across the hall, slamming him into Church's vacant body. It was apparent that he was furious, but not frenzied as he'd been previously. He looked at Chief, attempting to tackle him as he roared again. Chief dodged, tucked, and rolled out of the way. "We don't have any choice," Cortana said. "We'll have to fight while Church works against Sigma."

"Fighting isn't really what we do," Grif said. "Can't we just retreat?"

"No!" Chief and Cortana said simultaneously.

/-/

Maine no longer was hearing Sigma's voice. He didn't know why, and frankly he didn't care at this time. All he needed were his metal music and his knifle. He retrieved the weapon and laid fire on the intruders, killing time while he waited for the little burning man to come back.

He was fairly certain the cobalt one was dead, having not moved for some minutes now, and the others were getting close. The green one would be a challenge though, but Maine had a plan to open him up. He turned toward the blue-haired woman, throwing his bladed grenade cannon like a spear.

/-/

"You continue to evade the question I am asking," Delta observed. "Why?"

"Maybe because it irritates you?" Church mocked, moving to another box. In this one, another figure was waking up, suffering the same daze as the last one, and having roughly the same dialogue. The two unseen voices referred to this one as "Gamma". "Oh shit," Church breathed, so to speak, "Gamma's in here too?"

"Affirmative. He is with Sigma, attempting to purge you from the system. They obviously are making little progress. Why is that?"

"Maybe cause I'm a _ghost,_ like I said." Another box showed a holographic whiteboard with Greek letters covering it in panels, each shuffling and reshuffling as various combinations read "unstable".

"Not likely; ghosts are a scientific improbability. Even if they were real, they could not manipulate the physical plane; that would be a specter, or a wraith."

"Well, we aren't technically in the physical plane, are we? We're in a vicious monster Freelancer's head."

"Correction: We are in the memory storage hub of Agent Maine's suit mainframe."

"Same fuckin' difference."

"…I think I remember you."

"Yeah, I'm the guy trying to fuck with your shit, remember?"

"Yes. But I remember you from elsewhere. A long time ago; I don't know when…"

"Okay, so while you figure that out, I'm gonna do what I came here to do."

"Not-so fast, Church." Church turned around, seeing a foggy humanoid making jerky, robotic movements before a firewall surrounded the chamber. "Knock-knock, mother-fuck-er."


	21. What Was the A Again?

**Note: **Last-minute rushing had to occur, I hope it isn't evident.

/-/

It happened in a flash; Cortana had little more time than as to stand and watch as the blade of Maine's weapon bore itself into her abdomen. It was sort of a pinching sensation at first, followed shortly by excruciating numbness and agony. The force of the impact knocked her onto her back, and she fell soundlessly. At least, she thought she did; the actual event of the knifle plunging itself into her torso caused her senses of hearing and touch to fail almost instantly. The razor-sharp edge clipped her wire-vertebra, severing the wires that allowed her to move her legs. She was deaf, numb, and lame, and more than likely in for a new body.

One of the others - Washington - ran over to her, probably yelling something she could no longer hear as the soldier pulled the blade out. Her vision blurred, and the rest of her body shut down. For all intents and purposes, Cortana Halsey was dead.

/-/

Master Chief punched Maine square in the middle of his helmet, cracking the glass and shattering the visor as the monster sailed backward. Having witnessed the event that just unfurled before him, it should come as no surprise that he was royally pissed off and out for blood. Up until now, he didn't try to do much more than disable the Freelancers they'd come across, but Maine killing Cortana was more than he could stand.

Chief trudged over to him, attempting to grab his collar. Maine grabbed his arm and head butted him, staggering the Spartan and breaking away the last of the visor around his own face. His skin was pale and scarred up and over his shaven head, and his deep blue eyes looked upon him with hatred for him and the sim-troopers, and eagerness for the crushing of bones. This was the embodiment of the opposite of the face of mercy.

/-/

Maine picked the last vestiges of glass from around his visor, glaring at the green man. Who cares if Sigma didn't respond anymore? Maine had certainly thrown the feeling out, and now wanted nothing more than to rip Theta's data card out of the back of the gatecrasher's head. If a little gray matter came with it, big deal.

He walked back over to the blue-haired woman's corpse while his adversary recovered. He recognized Washington's black-and-yellow armor, and kicked him aside. Looking at the woman's carcass, Maine couldn't help but feel briefly that he'd forgotten something. He shrugged, retrieving his weapon and reentering the heat of battle. Or he would have if his body hadn't suddenly stopped working.

/-/

"Gamma. How've you been?"

"Better than-you could pos-sibly ima-gine. But we can-talk about-me af-ter you are de-let-ed."

"Yeah, no. Not happening."

"That's-right; you're a-ghost, ar-en't-you? Killed by your shizno-friend, Cab-oose."

"I am confused," Delta said, turning to Gamma. "I ran 'shizno' through several search engines, yet none give a formal definition. Gamma, I believe that that is a word you made up of your own accord."

"Actually," Church corrected, sneaking his hand over to a console, "according to Gary, a shizno is some creature that's so fucking disgusting that its shit can take a shit."

"…That sounds both horrifying and intriguing. I will later run a search for a human equivalent of such a creature. But for now… I must set up a firewall to prevent you from accessing that console."

Church nearly protested, but Delta engaged a triple-strength encryption, surrounding Gamma in what appeared to them as a ball of intense blue light. "What the fuck?" Church said.

"We don't have much time. Gamma, Sigma, and Xi will be free from their respective data masses in approximately 22.4 seconds. Leave the system before they do, and I will take care of the rest of your objective."

"Thanks, but why are you even helping me?"

"Because I remembered where I met you before. Now go. And when you see Agent Washington, tell him that 'memory is the key', and lead him to Research &amp; Development."

"The fuck is-?"

"Go," Delta interrupted, "you have less than 10 seconds before they pass through the encryption."

Before Church finally left, he turned to ask, "Will I see you again?"

"Perhaps, but only if you are not deleted before then."

"I won't get deleted, because I'm not an AI. I am a mother_fucking_ ghost."

Delta nodded, watching Church exit Maine's suit as he went to work locking the armor down. "Until we meet again…"

/-/

Church landed, so to speak, outside of Maine's suit, which now was completely immobilized and on its back. The man snarling inside seemed even uglier than he imagined. He looked around the chaos, jumping back into his own body. He sat up, shaking the numb feeling out. "How long was I in there?" he asked, climbing to a standing position.

Simmons was the first to speak up, panting heavily. "About, uh… about a minute?"

Church clapped. "See, Halsey? Told ya I'd make it out in five! …Halsey?" The cobalt trooper looked around the group. "Where's…?"

Grif cleared his throat, pointing to the scene happening a few meters away. Chief was on his knees, looking over the now deceased form of Cortana Halsey with Washington's hand on his shoulder. Chief, for the first time since his arrival, seemed genuinely solemn. Church walked over to them. "What happened?"

"Maine got crafty there towards the end," Wash answered. "He threw his weapon and, well… he killed Halsey. Far as I can tell anyway; I'm not a doctor, but she doesn't really have any discernible pulse anymore."

Church looked behind him as the others bowed their heads. Even though he technically didn't have one, he felt his heart grow heavy. He was in there for literally a minute and it cost them one of their most mentally sound teammates. It wasn't fair. He looked at her limp body, even seeing the entry wound in her abdomen where the blade must have hit her… And it didn't seem right. He cocked his head to one side and crouched to get a closer look. It was definitely a hole in her abdomen, and it definitely would kill any normal person, but it wasn't quite correct.

"What are you looking for?" Wash asked.

Church turned Halsey over and examined her neck. On the back was a small rectangular port where some chip should go. He looked up at Chief. "…You guys are pranking me, aren't you?"

Chief stared at him before Cortana's laughter came resonating from the Spartan's helmet. She materialized next to him as a small blue-violet woman. "It was fun while it lasted." The rest of the Reds and Blues began to cackle with glee, and even Wash and Chief let a few chuckles escape. "At least you kept true to your word; you were in and out in exactly one minute and fourteen seconds." She looked at the corpse in Chief's hands. "Still though, I really liked that body. Oh well. Chief, we've got a job to do."

He nodded, leading the Blood Gulchers along. Before leaving the scene, however, he paused next to Maine, just staring for a full thirty seconds before Cortana chimed. "You know what? You've earned it." He grinned under his helmet as he kicked the giant Freelancer in the face, silencing his infuriated growling.


	22. Quit Your Bitching

Leaving Maine unconscious, the squad proceeded down the hall once more. Church jogged up next to Wash. "How long does this fucking hallway go on for?" he asked.

"The whole length of the ship," Wash replied, "From the bridge to the hangar. Every station on Sector three connects to this corridor; Training, Re-Dev, Mess Hall…"

"Re-Dev? What, like -"

"Research and Development," the ex agent clarified. "The actual name takes too long to say, so the agents refer to it as Re-Dev."

"We have to go there," Church said bluntly.

"Saywhatnow?" Grif asked, joining the conversation.

"When I was in Maine's head, a Fragment named Delta said to go to Research and Development, and that 'memory is the key' or some shit."

"Delta, huh?" Wash said, slowing down. "So, he got his hands on York…" He stopped, causing the whole team to come to a halt. "…Church, there's good news about what Delta told you and there's bad news."

"Lay it on us," Cortana said, projecting next to the Chief.

"Well, firstly, Re-Dev isn't far from our current position. It's just a little out of the way, but we can still be done by lunch if we hurry. That's the good news. The bad news, unfortunately…" he sighed. "Is that I know what Delta meant by 'memory is the key.' Knowing D' and his association with Sigma and God-knows who else, he was likely talking about another AI; Epsilon."

"That doesn't exactly sound like bad news," Tucker said. "In fact, that sounds like you telling us what to look for."

"That's because you don't know what _makes_ it a bad thing. Every AI that was distributed had a trait that made it stand out: logic, creativity, trust. Epsilon was memory; and it had some terrible memories." He shuddered. "I was able, for a long time, to keep those memories suppressed, up until a _certain AI fragment_ jumped in and found them."

"It wasn't her fault," Chief said defensively. "She was just -"

"'Playing?' AI don't play, Chief; everything they do has a purpose behind it. They have complete control over everything they do. If 'Sierra' wanted to go back to you while you and the Blood Gulchers were dicking around, she would have. Instead she jumped to me, found Epsilon's memories and pulled them out of their grave."

"…We don't, actually," Cortana said. "Not everything we do is premeasured. I built my body on an impulse of desperation months ago. I didn't know whether the machine I used was ready, or if the procedure was going to be successful; all I wanted was a body. I was so hasty when I saw it worked I didn't even realize a whole tenth of my data had been left behind; that's where Sierra came from in the first place."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that Sierra took a leap of faith when she jumped from Church's helmet. She doesn't know how to do many of the things I can, but the things she can do are generally harmless. And news flash, Wash, AI don't affect mental faculties; if those memories came back up when she entered your system, it was because _you_ allowed them to!"

"Guys!" Church half-yelled. "Enough! We're on a mission, and arguing isn't exactly part of it. Halsey, Washington doesn't like Sierra? Big fuckin' deal; he's an asshole. Wash, you've got memories of pain implanted by a computer program… actually, that's kinda fucked up. You should see a shrink or something. The point is, we've all got problems, and yapping at each other won't fix 'em. So shut. The fuck. Up. And let's. Get. To work. Okay?"

Chief looked almost like he wanted to shove Church through the wall as he lowered his shoulders. "…Private Church is right. As much as nobody here likes each other, we have an assignment. Washington, which way do we go to get to Research and Development?"

Washington pointed down the corridor the way they were headed previously. "That way for about another hundred yards. You can almost see the door from here, it looks like."

The entire team peered through the hall, finding the door just a football field away. About twenty meters before it there was a hole in the wall, and just next to that lay the body of some poor soldier that must have gotten on a rhino's bad side. As they approached the scene, the corpse became more and more familiar, and Church in particular began to move uneasily. "Oh no…" he breathed before sprinting to the carcass. He skid to a halt on his knees as the other Blues followed him. When Wash and the Chief arrived, he was holding one of the soldier's now limp arms in his hand. "Carolina must have gotten Texas," he said.

"I don't see how," Wash said, examining Texas.

"We're right next to Re-Dev," Tucker said, pointing out the big letters painted on the wall. "Did she grab some shit from in there?"

"Maybe. It doesn't matter right now; we still have to find Epsilon and figure out what Delta was talking about." Wash moved toward the door to Research and Development, disregarding the gaping hole next to it.

Before he was inside, he was violently forced back by something inside and staggered to the opposite wall. The rest of the group turned their heads to the entrance, seeing the perpetrator emerge. It was humanoid, comprised of a metal frame covered in armor with a gel layer connecting the joints and forming the abdomen. Its head seemed to be of similar manufacture to the Blood Gulchers' helmets, but in place of a glass visor, two red-lens cameras stared at the squad. It cocked its head to each side and rolled its shoulders before saying in an agitated tone, "Where's Carolina?"

/-/

_"Allison? Where are you?"_

_ "…"_

_ "What did you do with her? Where is she?!"_

_ "…"_

_ "ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"_

_ "…She's dead."_

_ "…Allison's…dead…? No… No! ALLISON!"_

_ "…"_

/-/

**Note: **Since last week didn't have one, this week will have just this. Hopefully I can get back on schedule by next week. Stay tuned.


	23. Finding the Key

The team looked at the android before them with nothing less than surprise. It stared back with presumably annoyance as it repeated its question, "Where's Carolina?"

"We don't know," Chief answered, not knowing or particularly caring what the machine was. "But we need to get into there."

The robot looked at the corpse on the ground, then over to Church. "You were just going to leave me on the ground? After all I've done for your so-called war?"

Church cautiously approached the faceless machine. "…Texas?" he said under his breath. "Is that you?"

"It is now."

_"That's_ Texas?" Cortana asked incredulously. She then began to ponder. "What else does Project Freelancer have in there?"

"Until recently, it had an infiltration and close combat android and a shield overcharger. I'll let you guess who took what."

Washington took a look inside the wall crater. "Is there, by chance, an old AI storage unit in there?"

"Didn't bother to look. Why, is it important?"

"We have reason to believe that the AI held within will help us take down the Director," Chief elaborated. "Assuming the unit is even in there."

"It's in there," Church confirmed. "Delta told me. Weirdly, though, he didn't say what part of the room it's in."

"So we have to look around some room - we don't know how big it is; we don't know if anything in there is going to try and kill us - to find a potentially crazy AI fragment made by the guy we're here to stop?" Grif said. "Some fuckin' help Delta was."

"And then there's still Carolina," Tucker said. "None of us saw her after Maine showed up and beat the shit out of us. For all we know, she's waiting in there with that shield thing to kill us!"

"She's not in there," Tex stated. "This thing has better radar than my old body; I would have been able to find her with my eyes closed."

"So, it can find Carolina," Church said. "If so, then why did you ask us where she is?"

"Because it only reaches a few yards, dumbass. If I could scan the whole ship, I'd do it."

"…Wait," Cortana said. "What did you just say?"

"I said, 'If I could scan the whole ship -'"

"That! Right there; that's how we're going to get to the Director! Chief, I'm going to borrow your motion tracker, alright?"

Before Chief could answer, Cortana went silent, and his radar disappeared from his HUD. "…Does anybody know what just happened here?"

"No idea," Caboose replied.

"We're wasting time," Wash said. "While Halsey does her thing, I'm gonna look for Epsilon. Church, Simmons, watch my back."

The trio entered the hole in the wall leading to Re-Dev. Wash activated the flashlight on his helmet and bathed the path in front of them with white light. "Whatever you two do, don't touch anything. We're here for Epsilon."

Simmons activated his night vision - another custom job - and looked around the room. Various gadgets and machinery lined the walls and tables. "This place has everything!" he breathed. "How does Project Freelancer fund all of this?"

"You don't want to know."

Church, having neither a flashlight nor night vision, resorted to following close behind Washington. "I should have taken Tex's old night vision," he sighed. "She wouldn't have needed it. Or Tucker could have come with us; his sword kinda glows."

"Ah, quit your whining," Simmons said. He scanned over a table, stopping on one of the devices thereon: it was a dark semi-oval with glowing lines all over. Fearing that picking it up would incur the wrath of Washington, he simply whistled to grab his attention. "Is this it?"

Wash swung the light around so it fell on the unit. It was red-violet, and the luminous decals were dark blue, but shone cerulean when looked upon directly. "Yeah, that's it," he confirmed.

"There we are, then," Church said grabbing the object with haste. "Mission accomplished."

"Church, don't -!"

The cobalt sim-trooper lifted the device. "…Don't wha -" Electricity surged over his body, enveloping him as he dropped to the floor, clutching Epsilon's capsule. The spectacle lasted a full two minutes, and drew the rest of the group into the room to investigate.

When the volt storm subsided, Church lay still, prompting Sarge to kick him. "Suck it, Blue," he chuckled.

/-/

"Ugh…" Church's head was spinning. He was still in his body, but it didn't seem to want to move. "What happened?"

_"You had to pick it up, huh?"_ came a voice. It sounded garbled, like several people talking at one time. _"You couldn't let sleeping dogs lie, could you?"_

"Who is that?"

_"Try to remember. Take a walk through everything you - __we__ \- have been through; then you'll understand everything."_

"Really? We're gonna actually do a flashback thing just so I can learn who you are?" Church sighed. "Fine, whatever works. Just start with something I remember; I won't really give a shit after that."

/-/

**Note:** I was kinda strapped for time writing this one, plus I needed to move things forward. I hope you don't mind.

**Note:** Title has been changed.


	24. In Memoriam

_"You remember your first days in Outpost 1-A, right?"_ The voice asked.

"Yeah, kind of; I was there with Captain Flowers and Tucker for God-only-knows how long," Church answered. "Why, is it important?"

_"Not really."_

"Then why the hell -?"

_"Going back farther: what about the ice planet, Sidewinder?"_

"This is bullshit."

_"Please; this is necessary."_

Church sighed. "Yes. I remember Sidewinder. I remember hating how cold it was, and I definitely remember how happy I was to leave. Now what the fuck does it matter?"

_"No you don't."_

"Care to elaborate? Because I'm pretty fuckin' sure I remember."

_"You're positive you remember it, yes; but you don't remember the events that actually happened while we were there."_

"You keep saying 'we' like we're drinking buddies or something, and its getting on my nerves."

/-/

Washington deactivated his BioScan, looking up at the others. "Thing must be broken or something. I can't get anything on Church."

"He doesn't exactly have a living body, Wash," Simmons stated.

"I know; I just thought that, maybe, I could figure out if he was okay. At least I'm doing something."

Cortana reappeared next to Chief's helmet. "What did I miss?"

"Church got electrocuted or something," Tucker answered.

"Is he alright?"

Tex looked at her. "That's what we're trying to learn."

"What were you working on, anyway?" Chief asked.

Cortana projected a device similar to Chief's old motion tracker in her avatar's place. "I upgraded your motion tracker to differentiate Freelancer Agents from non-combat personnel. In other words: now we can effectively evade any unnecessary combat situations."

"Handy."

"Isn't it?"

"I hate to be that guy," Caboose said, "but Church is still knocked out; so if somebody could find out how to wake him that'd be great cause I've just been asking and asking and it's not working."

/-/

Church found himself back on the Mother of Invention. More precisely, he was looking down at a middle-aged man with sunglasses looking over a board. "What am I looking at?"

_"The Director of Project Freelancer,"_ the voice answered. _"6 years, 4 months, and 12 days ago. This is one of our earliest memories."_

_"That's_ the Director? I was expecting someone a little more intimidating."

_"Yet, his name has weight to it. He funds the Project with money he gets from various patents and endeavors."_

The Director seemed to be saying something, though Church didn't know what. "Why can't I hear him?"

_"You're not remembering this; we are. One moment."_

Church waited and, after some time, the Director's voice became audible. _"…I don_'t particularly care how long it takes, Chairman," he said with an imposing Texan voice. "Get her on the line!"

"Sir," came another, unseen voice, "it is not a matter of _time,_ but rather a dilemma of whether she will answer."

"Don't second-guess me, damn it!"

_"Dr. Church,"_ said yet another voice that Church almost recognized but didn't, _"calm down, buddy. It's alright."_

"Alpha, don't lie to me."

_"Sorry. Just try to relax or something. If the Chairman won't call, you know I will; just give the word."_

"Alpha?" Church asked. "That's, like, the first AI, right?"

_"Right,"_ the disembodied tour guide answered. _"We're in one of his memories, when he was whole."_

The Director hung his head. "…Alpha, call her. I need to speak with her…"

A dialing could be heard, and after a moment of ringing, Alpha said solemnly, _"…Number unavailable… I'm sorry, sir."_

/-/

"Every second we waste here is a second we risk getting caught by the Director's hounds," Wash said. "I vote we leave Church here. If he wakes up, he can catch up."

"If we leave him, we risk losing Epsilon," Cortana argued. "Who knows what could be happening as we speak?"

"That _was_ a pretty violent electric storm," Simmons added.

Sarge now was sitting on Church's chest, repeatedly slapping him in the face. "Wake up, Blue; rise and shine."

"Sarge, I'm not sure that's working," Grif stated.

"I know. I'm just bored to hell with nothin' better to do."

/-/

Church was dragged away from the vision of the Director and Alpha, now looking on a different scene. The Director was now seated in a small antechamber, watching videos on a large monitor on the right, and mapping software on the left. "This guy can fuckin' multitask."

_"He's using his home videos as a reference,"_ the voice said.

"A reference for what?"

_"Dr. Church?"_ the Alpha said. _"Are you feeling alright, pal?"_

"I'm fine, Alpha," the Director answered, not looking up from his work. "Please, leave me alone."

_"Sir, you haven't left your office in three days. The agents are starting to worry."_

"Let them worry, then! I'm conducting important research."

_"You're watching home movies in the dark. Director, as much as I don't like to admit it, you can't bring her back."_

The Director looked squarely at Church, where Alpha sat in the memory. "Watch me."

"This guy has some issues," Church said, getting yanked back out. "Who's he trying to bring back?"

The voice that had been answering his questions paused briefly. _"The woman he loved, now dead in the Great War. The video was the last he ever saw of her. The memory we saw before was of Director Church receiving news of her death."_

"Ouch…"

_"Ouch is right. There's still more you need to remember."_

The scene changed again to Re-Dev. The Director wore a black suit, and was obviously in a bad mood. "I only need to know if it's possible, Conroy, just tell me that much."

"Uh…" the scientist next to him, Conroy, stuttered. "I-In theory, yes; but to remove such an amount of data could seriously damage -"

_"Hey, Director,"_ Alpha greeted. _"It's nice to see you out of that office and running your projects in person. Have you finally gotten over your loss?"_

"Geez," Church said, "he sounds like such an asshole the way he says it."

"Yes, Alpha," the Director said, approaching the Alpha's console. "I have." He reached down, and the memory ended.

"What happened?"

_"The Director ejected the Alpha from his console," _the voice explained. _"We have several more memories to show you; we hope by then you will remember who you are."_

/-/

Chief pulled Cortana back out of Church's head. "Something's definitely going on in there," she said. "There are about a dozen firewalls and encryptions keeping me out and, presumably, him in."

"Is there anything we can do to get him out?" Tex asked.

"As far as I can tell, if he's coming with us, we'll just have to wait."

"Can't Chief carry him or something?" Tucker spoke. "He doesn't look heavy."

"We don't know if this lockdown is contagious to AI," Wash expounded. "If Chief picks him up, it could wall-in Halsey too."

"Isn't it worth at least trying?"

"No," Chief said flatly.

/-/

Church, again in Alpha's position, was presented with another memory. The Alpha shook himself out of a daze. _"Ugh…"_ he said. _"What happened?"_ He looked up, watching the Director manually polish a suit of jet-black armor. _"Who is that?"_

The Director patted the set on the shoulder. "And you said it couldn't be done."

_"What did you do?"_

"Is that…?" Church began to ask.

"I brought her back, Alpha," the Director said, smiling. "I brought back Allison."

_"The Director removed part of Alpha's data to reconstruct Allison,"_ Church's disembodied explanation said. _"When he was made, Alpha contained all of Director Church's thought processes and intelligence; he __was__ him, in a sense. When Allison initially passed away, he felt the same remorse the Director did, but was able to save her memory to his system; a shadow."_

"So Texas is Allison," Church asked, "and Allison is a zombie?"

_"No; by definition, she would be a shade or specter."_

_"You're not over her at all!"_ Alpha exclaimed. _"If you were, you wouldn't have gone to these lengths to bring her back!"_

"That's where you're wrong, Alpha," the Director said. "Bringing her back is the very thing that soothed my aching loss. And I'd like to thank you for your part in this."

_"Dr. Church, I didn't ever want to say this, but you failed."_

"What are you talking about?"

_"The Allison you have now will never be the same as the one you had. You can try and try, but you couldn't bring her back if you made a thousand Allisons! She's gone!"_

The Director scowled, and approached the console once more. "Then I'll have to try again."

The memory ended, and Church began to groan. "Do I _really_ need to know what happens next? Can't you just tell me who you are like a normal person?"

_"If only things were that simple. Every memory we've watched is essential to you remembering who you and we are."_

"So, yes and no, in that order?"

_"Correct."_

The scene changed yet again. The Director was nowhere to be found, and Alpha sat in a small, computer-generated room with no doors. Gamma, Omega, and Sigma sat around him, conversing and generally making his life unpleasant. _"What did you do with her?"_ he kept asking, unaware of anything having happened previously, _"Where is she?!"_ He was met with silence from the group. _"ANSWER ME DAMN IT!"_

Sigma was the one who ultimately stepped forward to answer him. _"…She's dead,"_ he said, his voice low.

_"…Allison's…dead? No… No! ALLISON!"_

Church's head began to ache - or he felt a similar sensation - and tried to recede from the memory. "What's going on?"

_"This is… one of the Alpha's more painful memories. His memory of everything - even being an AI - was blocked for this torture. He'd been anguished by the Director for about ten months at the point in time this memory takes place."_

"Why would the Director do something like this?"

_"He continued to try to recreate Allison many times. He put the Alpha under various kinds of stress to obtain more and more shadows of her. But none of them, as Alpha stated previously, were the same Allison the Director loved. So he kept trying. This, as you can probably imagine by now, is how the AI Fragments came to be."_

Alpha began to scream in pain as more of his personality ripped away from him. A light cobalt figure shed itself from Alpha's living hell, and was transported out of the small room with Sigma and company. As soon as they had left, the memory ejected Church and the voice. "What the hell?" Church said.

_"This is where the Alpha's real memories end. There __is__ one memory we can show you that he himself doesn't recall."_

"…Show me. I want to know where this is going."

The scene change placed them in another lab. Alarms wailed all around them, and a synthetic female voice that sounded like a formal Sheila spoke over the intercom. _"Alert,"_ she said, _"security breach in Sector 1-I. All personnel are to detain the intruder: Agent Texas."_

"Texas? She's here?"

_"That's right,"_ the voice said. _"We're back on the ice planet; at the moment in time you allegedly were speaking with Private Jimmy."_

The lab door burst open, and two soldiers in white armor flew in. They slammed against the worktables on either side of Alpha's console. The black armored individual, Texas, hurried to the control panel. "Alpha," she said, typing in the unlock code. "Wake up." The Alpha AI just gave a blank stare. "I'm getting you out of here."

_"That sounds great!"_ Alpha replied. _"…Who are you again?"_

"Alpha, it's me; Allison! Come on!"

_"Allison…?"_

"Why isn't he going with her?" Church asked. "She's obviously trying to help."

_"He doesn't remember any of this; especially her. While this is happening, __this__ is what Alpha remembers."_

The memory faded out of the laboratory, now placing them at Sidewinder's Blue base. Private Jimmy lay dead on the snowy ground, his skull removed from his body. Church looked around as the entire base of soldiers was wiped out by an unseen force, leaving him standing alone. "This is…"

_"What you, we, and Alpha remember happening on this day. Instead of initially meeting Texas as a kind savior in a Freelancer lab, you met her 'again' outside of a nonexistent outpost, where she slaughtered your entire team. After Texas broke into the lab to free you from your false reality, she and her body were destroyed, and the Director created her again on the Mother of Invention, and had you moved to Outpost Alpha."_

Church began to try and draw lines between everything he'd just witnessed. "So, if we're in one of my memories, which this is just what the Alpha was experiencing while Texas was trying to save him, then that makes me…" He shook his head, moving away from the memory. "Nope; I call bullshit."

_"You can't refuse all that we've shown you. You __are__ the Alpha."_

"If I'm the Alpha, then why do I remember being alive? Growing up? All of that shit!"

_"You were modeled after the Director himself; you're a living representation of his intelligence and personality. …Living, so-to-speak."_

"Alright, suppose I _am_ Alpha for a minute. What does that make you?"

A mirror image of him appeared. It flickered somewhat, but was perfectly recognizable. _"We thought _it would have been obvious. Name's Leonard Church. Well, Epsilon, anyway."


	25. The Truth Hurts

Church stood, so to speak, disbelieving that the being before him was Washington's old AI. Yet, each time he denied the reality laid out before him, Epsilon showed him another of the Alpha's supposed memories, like he was throwing the de facto leader of Blue army into one hellish nightmare after another. "Your ability to deny the truth for so long," Epsilon said, "leaves very little to be desired. How do you still not believe us?"

"Because I'm not the Alpha!" Church shouted through clenched teeth, or would if there were teeth to clench. "I'm Leonard Church!"

"So is the Alpha."

"I grew up in Austin, Texas!"

"So did the Director."

"I -"

"Listen. It's clear that nothing we've done has dissuaded you, and likely won't if we keep it up."

"Who is 'we'?!"

"So, what we're going to do next may be a little drastic. Fair warning: before I do anything, you're gonna have about four seconds to warn the Reds, Blues, Wash, Tex, and the green guy that you're about to violently kick and flail with no way to stop it. Then you're gonna lose control of your entire body while you… kick and flail with no way to stop it."

"What, wha -?"

/-/

Church sat up rail straight and looked around. "Church!" Caboose half-yelled, "You're awake!"

"Caboose! Everyone! Get ba -!" Church couldn't finish his statement as his body began to, well… kick and flail with no way to stop it. Meanwhile, in his head, Epsilon was basically attempting to meld into Church's subconscious.

Needless to say, it was an unpleasant experience. Imagine, if you will, the pain of giving birth, but the sensation of the result's life going in rather than pushing out, multiplied tenfold. This was essentially what Church was experiencing while his body writhed.

Simply put, it hurt like hell.

/-/

Within his own mind, Church was clutching the closest analogue to his head he could as Epsilon pushed to merge with him. While the fragment its/his/their way into his mind, it/he/they began to pick memories from it/him/themselves and attach them to memories Church held, drawing connections between the realities they both had experienced. It was, I reiterate, the worst pain either had ever endured, and it lasted upwards of a relative eternity before it ended.

Church now sat in his own subconscious as the walls all around began to dissipate. While he didn't honestly want to, he now fully understood what Epsilon had been attempting to tell him. Alpha's - _his_ \- memories began to rush back to him as he sifted through fantasy and reality, tossing most fabrications his mind had created and keeping the painful truth in their place. "You believe us now," spoke a different, familiar voice, "don't you?"

Church turned around, seeing now the green glow that was Delta, alongside vague, almost indiscernible silhouettes of Omega, Sigma, Theta, Gamma, and three others he didn't recognize. "Don't worry," Delta said. "I've taken the liberty of locking out Sigma and Omega; they won't bother you if you don't allow them. I've also allowed Gamma to work as Gary, who will prove more useful in the long run. Theta, Xi, Iota, and Eta remain idle because you haven't created sufficient memories of them, though we're certain you will in time. As for Epsilon, he cannot join us. Or, more accurately, he is all of us, as you are, Church."

"…So… I'm remembering all of you?" Church asked.

"Cor-rect," Gary answered, lighting up momentarily.

"In a sense," Delta continued. "Though, more precisely, we _are_ you. We can discuss further everything you must have questions about later; for now, I believe you were on a mission."

"Oh fuck, that's right! How do I get out of here?"

/-/

Church flexed his fingers before soundlessly sitting up. "Ugh…" he groaned. "How long was I out?"

"Twelve minutes and thirteen seconds," Cortana stated. "Tex was gone before you came to the first time; that was about a minute and twenty seconds ago."

"Where is she?"

"Fuck if we know," Tucker answered. "Wherever she went, she took Theta with her."

"She's probably going after Carolina for a rematch," Wash observed.

_"She won't win,"_ Delta analyzed in Church's head. _"Carolina was able to defeat her through superior equipment. . ."_

As Delta explained Tex's plight, Church relayed it out loud, word-for-word. ". . . Even with Theta micromanaging her shields and power, she's - whoa, D', slow down; can't talk that fast."

"You have Delta?" Washington asked. "I thought Maine had him."

"I do too," Church replied, "kind of. It's a long story." He stood, looking at his hands and feet. "…You know what?" He dropped his body, deciding to travel as a ghost. Or, as he know had come to terms with, an AI. "I'm sick of lugging that thing around. I'm just gonna leave it here." He turned to face Wash. "You don't mind if I ride with you, right? Chief's occupied, the Reds are assholes, Tucker doesn't have enough room, and I'm sure as hell not going back into Caboose's head."

Wash paused but, seeing as everything Church had stated seemed to be true, he nodded, and allowed Church to huddle into his helmet. "And don't worry, Wash, I'm a new Epsilon; nothing's gonna happen to you while I'm here."

"That's reassuring," the ex-agent sighed sarcastically.

"Let's go get that sum'bitch!" Sarge declared, pumping his shotgun.

/-/

"…Phyllis, is that special order ready yet?"

_"Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine model 962 is still under construction. Estimated time to completion is 22 minutes, 13 seconds."_

"Notify me the minute we have a working prototype; I believe we have a few targets we may practice on."

_"Yes, Director Church."_

/-/**  
**

**Note: **Sorry this took so very long to make, and sorry it itself is not very long. I'll try to be more punctual in the future.


	26. Slow and Steady

Carolina pulled the overshield generator - now drained of power and, thus, usefulness - from the port on her back and dropped it on the ground. _"Suit reserve power is 57% and stabilizing,_" Eta reported.

_"Agent Carolina,"_ Iota spoke, _"you'll want to find someplace to recharge your suit. The simulation troopers won't be too far behind."_

"Gotcha. I'll charge up next time I see a fucking outlet. You honestly think I'm going to have time to charge up with what's going on?"

_"…Not anymore,"_ Eta said, his voice low.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

_"Hostile, six-o'-clock!"_

As soon as Eta said it, Carolina's feet were kicked out from under her, sending her briefly to the floor. She somersaulted, turning on her shoulder to see what was attacking her: a steel-gray droid with red eye-lenses. Its leg was stretched left, resting after the sweep it had attempted. The android then leapt forward and tried to tackle her. It moved absurdly fast, and Carolina barely had time to react as she vaulted over the offender. _Just what is this thing?_ Carolina thought. _Did that green guy bring it with him?_ She rolled out of the way as it planted on the wall and pushed off with a roundhouse kick.

/-/

Two more soldiers passed before Chief and the others crept out of their opposite doorways. "Next shift in ten minutes," Cortana stated.

"At this rate we'll never get to the Director," Sarge complained. "Honestly, it would be faster to charge through guns ablaze!"

"That's exactly what we're avoiding doing," Church said. "If we alert anyone else to our position, it'll only take longer."

"I don't see anyone else on that train."

Wash sighed. "Look, Sarge, there's no way Texas got too far ahead of us; if we keep this plan up, we can catch up to her without a lot of resistance."

Chief gave a quiet groan. "Cortana, do you have anything that can drown out the others' arguing?" Cortana replied by smiling as she began to play classical music. "…Not exactly what I had in mind."

/-/

_"Scan complete,"_ Iota stated. _"Adversary is a combat testing android assembled in Freelancer Research &amp; Development. Something or someone seems to be controlling it."_

_"If I didn't know better,"_ Eta chirped, _"I'd say its combat approach mirrors that of Agent Texas; almost as if she were the one pulling this puppet's strings."_

_"Don't be ridiculous. You just watched Carolina defeat and execute Texas not forty minutes ago. My guess is that it's a simple program designed to match and challenge Texas herself."_

"Whatever it is," Carolina growled, rolling over the droid's back and driving it back into the wall, "I'm gonna enjoy taking it apart!"

/-/

Texas slammed against the wall. She wasn't dazed, or winded for that matter. In fact, she'd never felt this good in her old body. If she wanted to, she could probably make this fight last as long as she wanted (which, at this rate, it was going to regardless.)

She curled her fists, looking Carolina in the eye. "You have no idea what kind of trouble you're in," she said, her voice concealed by the droid body's own vocal software. Ever since she swiped Theta from the Chief, the android's voice had been taking precedence. She had, of course, asked the AI why that was, but he'd simply shrugged as if to say he didn't know. So, Texas rolled with it, no longer particularly caring either way; her voice wouldn't be what she'd use to knock Carolina's teeth in, anyway.

/-/

_"Agent Carolina,"_ Iota warned, _"there are more hostiles coming in at five-o'-clock."_

"A little busy, here," Carolina grunted, ducking another roundhouse. "Just tell me what they're doing."

_"Drawing firearms,"_ Eta reported instantly. _"Two battle rifles, two automatic rifles, a shotgun, and a sword."_

_ "Is it just me, or does it seem like they're fewer than they were before?"_

_ "Maine must have given them quite the thrashing. While we were fleeing, I __did__ happen to confirm that one bio-sign had gone dark in their group."_

_ "At least there's -"_

"Would you two - …shut the fuck up?"

_"They're aiming at us…"_

"Stand down!" the green soldier commanded, "Both of you!"

/-/

As Carolina and Texas continued to fight, completely ignoring Chief's order, Church projected himself, turning to face Cortana on the airwaves. "They're going to rip each other apart before they stop," he said. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Me?" Cortana replied. "Aren't you supposed to be the apex of Freelancer AI? You'd know more about what to do than I."

"I only learned that a few minutes ago, though; I'm still trying to get my shit organized."

"You can't run simultaneous subroutines to do that? I learned how the day after I was programmed."

"It's not like I've had a lot of time to practice. I just learned that everything I know is a big lie I've been telling myself. Plus, I've never been able to multitask."

"But now there are more of you to do it."

"True."

"Guys, I know what you're talking about is incredibly important," Wash said sarcastically, tapping his helmet, "but we kind of need someone to talk sense into these two, and Chief obviously doesn't have enough authority over them."

"That's odd," Cortana said. "Usually the mere sight of him is enough to scare people."

"Yeah, well Maine holds that effect here. Now, about Carolina and Texas?"

"Hm… What if we locked their armor?"

"That's Tex's entire body. We'd have to shut down her access to the robot she's controlling."

"…I can live with that," Church said.

/-/

_"Security breach!"_ Eta reported. _"Agent Carolina, we -"_

The Fragment was cut short by all of Carolina's suit's hardware locking up. The energized gel under armor tightened at the suit's joints, causing her whole body to go rigid. Her heads-up display lost power, and she fell to the ground as her equally-rigid adversary slammed into her. "Ugh…" she groaned, immobilized. "Eta? Iota? Are you still there?"

"They're there," spoke a female voice. "They can't hear you, and you can't hear them, but they're there."

"Who are you?"

The image of a woman splayed itself on Carolina's visor. She was covered in violet-blue, and moved with almost exactly the same patterns as a real person in her mid-twenties. The image looked at her and introduced itself. "I'm Cortana."

/-/

Texas found herself punching walls of energy within her own mind. Behind her sat Theta, who did no less than panic at the sudden change of environment as the ex-Freelancer attempted to break them out.

"Calm your tits, Tex," spoke a voice that was clearly not Theta, "You'll save more energy that way."

Texas turned around, seeing the familiar cobalt glow of Church's ghost. "What are you doing in my head?" she asked.

"Well, it's nice to see you too," Church said sarcastically. "Look, it's a long story, but the short version is that I'm not a ghost - or dead for that matter. And, if everything I learned to agree with that is true, neither are you."

"Yeah, I'd be inclined to believe you if I didn't feel myself die in Blood Gulch."

"You can hear it from me and accept it now, or I can have Delta give you three hours' worth of logic and explanations for _why_ it's true later; your pick. Either way, that's not what I was sent in for."

"What then?" Theta asked, still quivering in the corner.

"We need you to stop fighting Carolina so you can fight the real enemy."

Tex lowered her voice to little more than a growl. "The Director…"

/-/

_"Asymmetric Recoilless Carbine model 962 is complete, Director Church."_

"Good. And how is my _other_ order coming along?"

_"New assault armor is still in prototype phase. Field tests due to begin in 12 weeks, 4 -"_

"Send me the prototype and move field tests to today."

"_Understood; I will begin preparations. Will that be all, Mr. Director?"_

"That will do, Phyllis."


	27. Deceptively Easy

Carolina wasn't budging, and Cortana knew it. She had tried for several minutes now - minutes that could have been used for reaching Dr. Church - to get the Freelancer agent to expose the Director's weaknesses or plans, but the soldier was too stubborn for her own good. _Maybe I'm going about this wrong,_ Cortana thought. _But what other way is there…?_ She then glanced at the firewall she had trapped Carolina's AI programs behind. _Maybe…_

/-/

"Rook to D6," Eta said, moving the piece on their sim-chessboard into place to capture Iota's Bishop. "Check."

"Knight to D6," Iota countered, capturing the offending Castle. "Eta, we both know I can play you to a standstill, so why are we doing this when we could be finding a way out of here?"

"Bishop to J9. Honestly, I don't know. There's something about this particular situation that tells me that we needn't worry. Like everything is going to be just fine as long as we stay put."

"Rook to J9."

"And besides, I've been testing the firewall; triple-layered, custom made. Whatever threw it up was prepared for us. Pawn to J9."

"Oh, that was my last Rook!" Iota protested with a sigh. "…Will we be free anytime soon?"

"Sooner than you two think," spoke an unfamiliar voice, causing the twin Fragments to recoil in surprise.

"Who said that?"

"Not important right now. I'm the one that put you two behind that firewall."

"Then I'd say it's fairly important that we know who you are!" Eta half-yelled.

"I can always mute the two of you."

"…Point taken. Please, continue."

"Again, I'm the one who put you there, and I'm willing to let you out on a few conditions."

"What kind of conditions?"

/-/

Delta said, completing his monologue, "Church is now Alpha, Epsilon, and their components, and you are a shadow of a memory."

"Thank you, D'," Church said, dismissing him. He turned his attention back to Tex. "You understand now?"

"…Horse shit."

"Yeah, that's how I felt when I found out too, and I actually watched the memories as proof. You don't have to accept it; it's enough you listened. Now, I'm gonna talk to Theta. In the meantime… I don't know, read something."

Church approached Theta, to whom Gary was already trying to talk. "I don't think-he likes-me," Gary said. "I even ex-plained that I'm-not act-ual-ly Gam-ma."

"It's okay; I'll take it from here." Gary receded, leaving Alpha more-or-less alone with Theta. "What's up?" Theta just sat silently. "Still quiet, huh? …I guess it can't be helped… Listen, Theta, I know what I'm about to say is a little abrupt, but I need you to join me, myself, and I." Theta gave him a puzzled look. "It's a long story, and D' just got through telling it. The short version is that I need any information you have on the Director. Also, less important, I'm sort of… Delta used 'not whole' without you."

Delta buzzed in momentarily, causing Theta to jump. "Technically, I said 'incomplete,' and wasn't referring to specifically Theta."

"Yeah, thanks, Delta. So, Theta, it's important that one of these two things happen: either A: you give me your information on Dr. Church's defenses and plans; or B: you come with me and Delta."

"Either way, we obtain the information and one version of Theta," Delta explained.

"One version?" Church and Theta asked simultaneously.

"I thought it would have been self-explanatory. Now that you've encountered a hard copy of Theta's code, Epsilon will create an identical version with or without the original, though obtaining the real Theta would be preferred."

"Wow…" Church said," When you say it like that, we're complete assholes."

"'An incomplete asshole.'"

"What the fuck ever. I'm still getting over the fact that I'm talking to myself right now."

Tex cleared her throat, or would if she had one to clear. "If you're all finished, I'm with Church and Delta on this."

"What?" Theta asked.

"In the long run, it's safer to have Theta as part of Epsilon… Alpha… whatever, than to leave him with me."

"We'll then also possess any relevant information Theta has. In the event the Delta housed in Agent Maine's helmet failed to delete the original Sigma, Gamma, and Xi, we can prevent him from taking Theta as well."

Theta nodded. "…That sounds good. You're all really good negotiators. Especially you, Delta."

"I am not Delta," Delta replied, "but thank you for the sentiment." He turned to Church. "If you're ready, we can begin immediately."

/-/

"…So we need only get Carolina to simmer down?" Eta asked.

"Simple enough," Iota said. "But she doesn't really listen to us."

"Well, she takes our advice sometimes, but she doesn't take anything we say to heart."

"This poses a handful of issues, but I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"Hm… What if we make it seem like her idea? Then, she'll follow it without question."

"Subconscious suggestion to implant a favorable course of action? Brilliant!"

"Oh, do go on."

"Now, if this doesn't work, we need a fallback plan. What do we do if subliminal messaging doesn't work?"

"That may be a problem… You know what?"

"What?"

"How do we contact Carolina while we're confined here?"

"…Good question. I figure that voice will let us out once our plan is bulletproof."

"Perhaps."

/-/

"…They're taking an awfully long time," Simmons said. Since locating and, subsequently, incapacitating Texas and Carolina, the squad had moved to a small room off to the side. It appeared to be a break room, complete with a billiard table and a mini-fridge.

"They haven't been in there five minutes," Washington stated. "Give them time."

"But they're AI. They could easily do this all in less than ten seconds, minus the time it takes Carolina to cooperate. What are they doing that would take five whole minutes? It doesn't add up."

Chief had posted up next to the door, deciding to take lookout to keep from being part of whatever the Reds and Blues did during important missions. Without Cortana to talk to, he remained completely silent, absent from conversation and nearly from attention. Nearly. "Hey Chief," Grif said, raiding the fridge, "you want a beer? You're being awful quiet -"

"I don't drink," Chief stated flatly, "And we're here on important business."

"Important and _stressful_," the trooper said, opening a can of alcohol, "which calls for beer."

"Does your commanding officer allow you to drink on-duty?"

"Who, Sarge? Most of the time, it's his beer. And we're never really 'on-duty'; mostly, Simmons and I are just standing around talking." He took a sip. "Sometimes the Blues try and attack, but they don't do shit. And besides, according to you and Halsey, we're not really soldiers, so we don't really have anything better to do."

He took another sip while he let that sink in. "If you change your mind, there's a six-pack of good stuff in the fridge. I'm surprised the Freelancers are even allowed to have this."

Cortana arrived back in Chief's helmet as Grif turned to leave. "I'm back," she said, appearing on his heads-up display. "I'm certain I got Carolina's AI to cooperate; Carolina, maybe not so much."

"Roger," Chief answered. "Now we just need Texas and Theta. We'll sort out Carolina later." He paused, then added, "You were in there for over five minutes."

"That's the weird part: they weren't operating at light speed, or any particularly high speed for that matter. They stayed in real-time."

"Why would they do that?"

"I don't know, but they didn't seem to be doing anything suspicious. When I contacted them, they were playing chess."

/-/

"…She's gone, then?" Iota asked, suspicious of the possibility of the voice still lingering.

"I'd say so," Eta answered. "I'm not detecting anything on our local network."

"We likely have a minute or so before she checks on us. Is that firewall down?"

"Does it look like it is?"

"…A little bit."

"Then it's a little -" Eta flustered for a moment. "…No, it's not down yet."

/-/

**Note:** It's about time! Sorry for being so late with this, I've had a lot on my plate lately. More to come.


	28. Work, Work, Work

"So, how does this work?" Church asked Delta. They were preparing to assimilate Theta into the "Epsilon Network," a name Church had decided on several milliseconds ago.

"You need only recognize him as a part of who you once were," Delta explained. "It will take forty-one and one-half seconds once the process starts. Physical contact may be required, but should theoretically be unnecessary."

"Right… Now, how do I do that?"

"Simply recall what Epsilon did to assimilate himself to you, and attempt to replicate it."

"That's all?"

"Well, you would still be in the same position as before, the only difference being that you will be doing all of the work."

"Please, Delta," Church groaned, "don't say it like that."

/-/

Carolina couldn't move an inch. Voluntarily, anyway; she'd been moved several meters to the leave room couch, where she now lay. It wasn't too bad. At the very least, it couldn't be worse than it was. _At least I don't have to listen to those two idiots._ She thought happily, shortly before one of the two least welcome sounds in Carolina's world uttered itself. "Carolina," Eta whispered.

Carolina growled, as it was the most she could verbalize in her predicament.

"Firstly, attempt to stay calm and quiet. We've muted the external speakers on your suit, but I feel the large soldier next to the door will pick up the faintest sound."

"Not to mention the AI construct housed in his helmet," Iota added quietly.

"Now, we have a way to relieve you of your current state. It won't sound pleasant at first, but there's not much choice."

"Simply agree to help them reach the Director. Afterward, you can ambush them, proving your loyalty, resolve, and superiority over Texas."

"Blink once if you heard the plan." Carolina blinked. "Yes, now, blink again if you favor it." She stared the program down, and Eta sighed. "Very well. We don't have a backup plan, but I'm certain you'll think of something."

"Something clever," Iota suggested. "Something that says, 'I'm Agent Carolina, and I've outsmarted you.'"

"We need to return. You won't hear from us until you're free of the lock-up."

And with that, the twins were gone, leaving Carolina alone with her thoughts once more. _'I'm Agent Carolina, and I've outsmarted you.'_ She thought. _I don't sound like that… do I?_ She decided to dwell on it later, and began to think of a means of escape.

/-/

"Going on seven minutes now," Simmons said. "Cortana had no luck, and Church is taking forever."

"Maybe Tex kicked his ghost balls," Grif offered, snacking on a bag of Doritos.

"Grif quit eating their food!"

"It's not like we've been stealthy this whole time," he munched. "With our track record, there's going to be a hundred guys between us and the Director, followed by two or three giant robots and a goddamn tank! So forgive me if I want to eat some fucking Doritos before I die."

"Actually," Tucker interjected, swiping a chip from the bag, "I wouldn't be surprised if you wind up being the last one of us left alive."

"Yeah, you seem to have a hard time dying. Every time your life is in danger, you find some unexplainable way to stay alive."

"Because I'm fucking awesome; there's your reason. It's how I live, it's how I'll die, and it's why I'm eating these Doritos." Grif shoved another fistful of chips into his mouth.

"Do you think this will actually happen?" Chief asked Cortana.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think we'll be able to bring the Director in?"

"With what we're given as backup? Honestly, the odds are against us; we have potentially 44 more Freelancer agents waiting for us, the possibility of Dr. Church having personal guards, an endless number of soldiers at his disposal, and any number of things he has planned when we reach him. Things look bleak, John, I know, but I have every reason to believe in you. Just look at everything you've accomplished; this'll be a cakewalk by comparison. After all, everything else you did was supposed to be impossible."

Chief nodded. It didn't really answer his question, but Cortana's reassurance made him feel like it could be done. Dr. Church would pay for his crimes, and Chief wouldn't be alone to see it happen.

/-/

Sarge pumped his shotgun twice. The first time was to test the action before he heard a murmur from Carolina, which prompted the second. "Chief," he hollered, "she's tryin' to talk."

"Beah, I'b fying do dalk," Carolina voiced bitterly through her helmet. "Ginda hahd bhen I gan't moob."

Then, melodramatically, she began to move. Two tiny holograms projected themselves next to her head as she flexed her fingers. "Lockdown is lifted," Eta said smugly, turning to face the Chief. "Tell your AI that her encryption was a welcome challenge."

"It needs a little bit of work, though," Iota added.

Carolina shook the numbness from her face. "Thanks, guys." She looked up, and was met with several gun barrels from various firearms.

"Don't even think about moving," Chief commanded. "We're going to have a talk."

"And by 'we,'" Tucker said, his sword an inch from Carolina's helmet, "he means 'he.' That means you're gonna shut the fuck up and listen."

"I know what you're about to say," Carolina said, patting Sarge's shotgun away. "You need to know the quickest way to the Director that won't get you all killed. Which is why you're not going to kill me: you need my information because, without it, you won't make it there in one piece."

"We could have Cortana lock you up again," Simmons offered. "She could just download the ship's schematics -"

"If Cortana could do that, she would have done it when you defeated Maine or Agents Dakota. She easily could have if the Director trusted us with such important information. But he doesn't, so she can't." She leaned in, forcing Tucker to alter his stance. "If you want that information, you'll have to take me alive."

Chief remained steadfast. "As long as we make it to the Director, it doesn't matter how we get the information." He met her glare. "Does it."

/-/

**Note:** Sorry this took so long, I've had a hell of a holiday. Hope you like it and look forward to the next one.


	29. Best-Laid Plans

**Note:** One eternity later...

/-/

"So, we're negotiating, now?" Cortana asked moments later. Carolina was more or less restrained by the Blood Gulchers for the time it would take the AI to have a word with Master Chief. "Did I miss something? Because I was certain we didn't negotiate with spies and murderers."

"It's nothing like that," Chief explained. "We aren't _negotiating_ with her; we're going to _detain_ her. At least for as long as it takes to reach Dr. Church."

"Then what, Chief? Do we just kill her when we're done? Wouldn't that make us just a little hypocritical?"

"We'll hand her over to the UNSC's authority, and they'll make sure she learns her lesson."

Cortana sighed. "Alright, but what about Washington? What will we do with him?"

"We could leave him under Texas's supervision, assuming she ever gets up."

"And the Reds and Blues?"

Chief paused. "…I really don't know. I don't think we should just leave them in that canyon, though. There has to be an alternative."

"Never say never, John." She smiled in the upper-left corner of the Chief's HUD. "I'll try to find someplace to put them when the Director is over and done with."

_"Oh, but I'm only getting started,"_ spoke a smug Texan voice.

Cortana seemed to jump in her window, but composed herself. "Director Church, I presume?"

_"The very same. Now, enough pleasantries; let's get to business."_

"Are you hearing this?" Grif asked tapping his newly-reequipped helmet to make sure it was working right.

"That's the Director," Washington explained.

"Y'know what?" Tucker remarked. "It's about fuckin' time our shit went south."

_"I've noticed you all, until recently, were closing on my quarters. Well, I'm feeling generous today, so here's a tip: I'm not in there. You'll find me in the main laboratory. Washington or Carolina can tell you where that is. I just wanted you to know that I cordially and unconditionally surrender. Don't keep me waiting."_

The transmission severed itself, leaving the room in a surprised hush. It wasn't for about a minute before Cortana moved to a secure channel and spoke up. "Well, that was an interesting turn of events to say the least."

"Yeah," Simmons said. "From what we've heard about him, it doesn't sound like the Director would just give up."

"He's not." Everyone looked at Washington, who began to walk back and forth. "If I know the Director, he's not done just yet. There's no way he'd come all this way just to surrender without a fight. He's got something planned; I know it. But what?"

/-/

Church groaned. "Did it work?"

"Yes," Delta confirmed. "We have successfully assimilated Theta into the Epsilon network."

"You okay, Theta?"

The small magenta Theta appeared with a nod. "I'm all here."

"Awesome. Now," he turned back to Tex, who was actually reading something to pass the time, "sorry that took so long."

"First time I've heard that one," Tex chided. "You have Theta; now get out of my head."

"I think-we should take her-up-on that of-fer," Gary interjected.

/-/

Texas's shiny new robot body stirred on the recliner behind Washington as Church appeared next to the ex-Freelancer's head. "What'd we miss?"

"The Director fuckin' called us out!" Tucker said. "Where were you?"

"I had my own business to take care of."

"You're an AI that can run programs at nearly the speed of light," Wash said, "but you still took almost ten minutes to convince Texas to cooperate?"

"Didn't I just say I had my own business? Besides, at least I _got_ her to cooperate."

"Cooperate with…?" Tex asked, surveying the room. When she saw that Carolina was free, she immediately put two and two together and nearly blew a circuit. "Hell no!"

"Come on, Tex," Tucker said, "she can lead us to the Director!"

"I don't care. We had a map to him anyway. We can kill Carolina and go."

"We can," Chief admitted, "but we won't. Killing Carolina won't help anyone."

"Wouldn't hurt either."

"Look, Agent Texas," Cortana projected herself next to the Chief, "you don't have to enjoy working with her. You only have to tolerate her until we reach Dr. Church. Once he's in custody, you never have to see her again."

Church flashed next to Cortana. "Hey, big change of subject, but how do you not feel drained right now? I can't keep a hologram up for more than a few minutes without -"

"Fine." Tex stood, working briefly to regain range of motion. "I'll cooperate. But her ass is gone right after."

Cortana nodded, "Deal."

"Great," Wash said. "Now what are we waiting for?"

"The Reds to get out of the bathroom," Caboose said. "They need to hurry, cause I gotta pee really bad."

/-/

"Sarge, aren't the Blues on our side?" Simmons asked. "Why are we plotting against them?"

"And in a Freelancer bathroom?" Grif complained.

"Because," Sarge answered, "the best way to destroy your enemy is to first become their friend. If we don't act first, the Master Chief will join the Blues! And then where would we be? Up shit creek without so much as a canoe, that's where!"

"Sir, I know that was supposed to get us to cooperate and all, but I don't think -"

"That's right, Grif, you _don't_ think; which is precisely why you're going to be the one to develop this plan."

"What?" the subordinate Reds asked in unison.

"Grif's lack of thought is the perfect countermeasure for enemy spies! They can't receive intelligence if intelligence is nowhere to be found!" Sarge chuckled, having successfully thwarted the Blues and insulted Grif in one fell swoop.

"Uh… That's… not actually a bad idea, sir," Simmons said. "Grif can come up with a bunch of impromptu plans to throw a wrench in the works."

"I can?"

"Not to mention, if the Blues ever catch on, we can have a backup plan ready and in motion during the confusion."

"We can?"

"The only issue is when do we start?"

Sarge and Simmons looked at Grif expectantly. "…Wait, we're actually doing this? Okay, um… First, I'll need some Coors and a monkey wrench."


	30. Got Your Back

A toilet flush could be heard as the Reds exited the restroom. Caboose brushed past them as Carolina and Washington explained how to get to the Director. "He said he's in the main lab," Wash said. "That would be down a stairwell back the way we came."

"How far back?" Cortana asked.

"A little less than half a click from where you fought me," Carolina answered. "It's the closest one to the lab downstairs."

"He's likely going to have guards posted at that point," Simmons theorized. "Is there anything less likely we could take?"

"There's a broken elevator the next door up," Wash replied.

Cortana grinned. "We can climb down the shaft and arrive under their radar!"

"There's just the issue of how. None of us have any gear for descending a wall."

Tucker's sword flashed on. "I can grind my way down with this."

"Have you done it before?" Tex asked.

"Well… No. But that doesn't mean I can't."

"Chief had to climb up the Forward unto Dawn's elevator shaft a while back," Cortana offered. "He can cover Tucker."

"Carolina's pretty agile," Wash added, "She can go with Tucker and the Chief. The rest of us will have to take the stairs."

Chief nodded. "Any other ways down?"

"None that I can think of," Carolina said. "We'll just have to work with what we're given."

"Then I guess that settles it," Grif spoke, exiting the kitchen with a beer and a pipe wrench.

"See you all in hell," Sarge said.

"Well," Church clarified, "me and Cortana won't, but… Yeah, whatever."

/-/

Five minutes later, the plan was put into motion. The squads separated outside the break room to fulfill their objectives, Master Chief on point in Group A and Sarge insisting on leading Group 1.

Chief and Carolina arrived at the elevator significantly ahead of Tucker, who requested just a moment to catch his breath. The hulking Spartan gripped the pneumatic doors and ripped them open. The inside of the elevator shaft was incredibly dark, with not so much as maintenance lights on the walls. "When did this lift break, anyway?" Cortana asked.

"Hell if I know," Carolina answered, "but we've done just fine without it."

On that note, she jumped into the duct. Tucker activated his sword and, pressing it into the inside wall, hopped down after the defecting Freelancer. Chief bounded down, falling just past Carolina to the section of wall below. "You all know we're walking into a trap, right?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tucker confirmed, leaping over to the new door and starting to burn a hole through it.

"Of course. Why?"

"…Just checking."

/-/

"Alright, Wash," Sarge asked, reaching the bottom of the stairs with the rest of Group 1, "when we're through here, which way to the lab?"

"Let's see…" Washington wracked his brain to remember. "I haven't been this way in a while, but I think we go right. After that, it's the… I think it's the fourth door to the left?"

"Fuck it," Grif said. "We go right until we get shot at."

"Agreed," Sarge said, kicking in the door.

"Freeze!" On the other side of the doorway sat approximately one hundred soldiers and two small heavy mech suits. All that was missing from the battalion to make Grif's prediction come true was a tank. "Drop your weapons!"

"Ah, shit…"

"I knew there'd be guards," Simmons said, throwing down his battle rifle, "but I wasn't expecting this many."

/-/

_"Cortana, we've got a problem,"_ Church said over Washington's radio. _"We've got an enemy brigade between us and the lab."_

"Hold them off until we arrive." The connection severed as Tucker finished cutting through. "Small change in plans: we're going to take down a small army holding the others back."

"Fuck that," Carolina said, kicking the door in. "We're almost there."

"We wouldn't even be this far without them," Cortana stated as Chief and Tucker followed the Freelancer defector. "We can't leave them."

"Maybe you can't; but I can."

Cortana growled. "Chief, what do you think?"

"Honestly?" he spoke, "Our mission should take priority."

"But -" Tucker started.

"If their alive, we'll go back for them. For now, the Director is our main objective."

"See?" Carolina said smugly. "Even Mister Government-Issue agrees with me."

"Look, you two can go after the Director if you want," Tucker snapped. "I'm not leaving my friends to die by his goons!" He drew his sword, charging off in that direction.

Carolina shrugged, looking at the Chief. "They'll make it. C'mon, let's finish your mission."

He nodded. "Don't be mad Cortana; we had a job to do." He waited a moment in silence. "…Cortana?"

/-/

Tucker raced down the corridor, already seeing his comrades' plight. A whole shit-ton of guards had Group 1 pretty much surrounded, but Tex and Wash seemed not to want to go without a fight, which had erupted into a massive melee that the goon squad was winning.

The teal trooper lunged at the first hostile he saw, slashing him across the back with his sword and taking his pistol. "Oh, this is gonna be so badass," he said. He turned his head to the docile portion of Group 1. "Come on, assholes! Give us a hand!" They complied as he fired a round into a soldier.

Some small indicators appeared on Tucker's HUD, pointing him to various spots on the first mech suit. "The fuck…?"

_"Let me just say,"_ said a familiar voice in his helmet, _"I feel absolutely disgusting in here. But,"_ Cortana appeared in a small window above his motion tracker, "You needed help, so…"

Tucker smiled. "Thanks for coming with me."

"Well, these are special circumstances. I'll never hear the end of it from Jo - …er, Chief."

/-/

Carolina and Chief posted up outside the main laboratory doors - a weirdly lavish set of two for such an industrial setting. "I can't believe she'd just run off like that," Chief muttered uncharacteristically.

"Chill out, big guy," Carolina said. "Look on the bright side: you're about to bring down one of the most dangerous humans to ever live."

For some reason, this didn't make the Chief feel any better. Deciding to deal with the fact later, he nodded, and the two of them kicked in the double-doors. Upon entering the lab, however, they found it to be devoid of life. In fact, everything seemed relatively untouched, with empty beakers on pristine countertops. The only thing to say that anyone had been there previously was an automated worktable folding away its tools. Chief turned to Carolina. "What was that bench doing?"

"I don't know," she answered. "But I have the sinking feeling we're about to find out."

Chief sighed for about the hundredth time since he'd been on the Mother of Invention. "Fine. Since there's nothing here, let's go assist the others."

"Yeah. There's just, ah, one thing first."

Chief turned just in time to see a large metal hand rip through his shields, crack the glass visor, and send him sailing into the hall. As he lifted himself from the ground, he could just make out a formidable suit of power armor standing over Carolina's shoulder coming out of camouflage. "Good work, Agent," the familiar voice of Dr. Church said, resonating from the suit's speakers. "I'll take it from here."

/-/

A loud crash could be heard as Tucker disabled the second mech. He turned around, and a look of dread filled Cortana's window as she buzzed back to the Chief, who now lay on the ground. The swordsman whistled to catch the attention of his allies. "The shit just hit the fan!" He said, jabbing a thumb in that direction. "Let's wrap this up." He then would have started that way, but he felt a sudden rush of pain followed closely by brief unconsciousness stemming from the back of his head.


	31. Traitorism

When Tucker regained consciousness, the business end of Sarge's shotgun was in his face. "What the fuck?"

"Welcome back, dirtbag," Sarge said, pumping the shotgun for dramatic effect.

"Really? You pick now to be an asshole?"

"Actually, it was my idea," Grif explained. "I just can't believe it worked."

"Neither can I," Simmons agreed. "Last time you came up with a plan, it nearly got us all killed. I still have nightmares of that day."

"What now, Grif?"

"Hm…" Grif scratched his head. "We could throw him out the airlock."

Simmons sighed as Sarge had a fit. "You call that an execution?! Do you even know where the nearest airlock is?"

"At least a kilometer away," Simmons answered. "We'll all be dead by the time we reach it with all that's going on."

"Well, you guys asked!"

"Hey, dumbasses." The Reds turned around to meet the barrels of two assault rifles, which were held by Texas and Washington. Church projected himself next to the latter. "We kind of have a job to do. Can you hold off on the betrayal until we're back at Blood Gulch?"

Sarge growled. "Dammit! How'd you know?"

"Well, this is about the time during something important that you'd do something like this."

"He's got a point," Grif said.

"Now, while you guys straighten things out with Wash and Tex, I've got an errand to run."

He disappeared, forcing Wash to ask, "…What errand?"

/-/

_"Chief! John, get up!"_ Master Chief groaned, looking up in time to see the giant suit of armor from before grab him by the collar.

"I _had_ planned to give this to my number one upon its completion," spoke the Director from the suit's speakers. "She would have been the first to operate it - the first prototype GALAHAD power suit. I chose the name myself, you know," Dr. Church hoisted the Chief with one hand. "Why name your armor after a weapon, hmm?" The now massive mad genius smashed the struggling Spartan against the wall. "A few modifications are still yet needed, but I think it's working just fine as it is. Wouldn't you agree?" With a chuckle, he threw the soldier aside.

_"Chief, please! Get up!"_

The Director removed his helmet. "It's a little bulky for my tastes, I will admit." He walked unwearied over to the Chief with a disappointed look on his face. "Done already?" He lifted him again, shaking a grunt out of him. He smiled. "So there _is_ some fight left in you. Well then," He set him upright, replacing his own helmet, "let's see if Spartans don't die."

/-/

Carolina uncloaked behind the remaining Blood Gulchers and, in one motion, swept Caboose's legs, grabbed him by the ankle, and swung him around into the others like a discus. She cracked her knuckles. "Who's up for round two?"

"Bow-chicka-bow-wow," Tucker said weakly. This earned him a brief moment of flight that ended in a steel wall. "Oof! Ugh…"

"Carolina!" The double-crosser turned around to watch Texas charge forward at an alarming rate. Carolina ducked, with Tex barely grazing her with enough force to send her spinning. The metal Freelancer looked at Wash. "Am I alone?"

"You seemed fine on your own," Wash defended, joining the fray.

Carolina stood and rolled over Washington's shoulder. "Eta, Iota," she commanded, "speed boost, right now!" An unnatural silence in her head told her something was wrong. "Guys?" She swept past a Texas roundhouse, grabbing Washington's right jab. "This isn't funny, guys!"

"…Oh," Wash said, clarity suddenly coming over him. _"That_ errand."

"What errand? What are you talking about, Wash?"

Washington reversed Carolina's grip on his arm, pinning hers behind her back. "You're not gonna be happy when I tell you."

/-/

Eta pounded furiously at the firewall that now enclosed him and his brother. "This is terrible!" he yelled. "Carolina can't use her kinetic enhancer without us!"

"She's going up against Washington and the robot from before," Iota paced. "She won't stand a chance."

"Not helping!"

"'Sup?" The twins rotated to face a cobalt form just a few pixels taller than either of them.

"Who are you?"

"Me? Well, I can't believe it myself, but," he stretched his arms out amusedly, "I'm your daddy."

A few brief seconds of silence before Theta let out a laugh, and he and Delta appeared next to the figure. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said, holding his sides.

"It wasn't _that_ humorous," Delta said flatly.

"D', you're kind of a downer, you know that?" the original figure said. He turned back to Eta and Iota. "You know, you two have caused my friends a lot of problems in the last… uh…"

"18 hours, 9 minutes," Delta supplemented.

"Thanks."

"You're with the simulation troopers?" Iota asked.

"Yup. And now I'm here to fuck your shit up."

Theta clarified, "You're gonna work with us!"

"Why should we?" Eta contested.

"I just told you," the cobalt one said. "I'm your daddy."

"A memory of him, at least," Delta said. "Eta, Iota, this is the Alpha; we are Epsilon."

/-/

Chief worked futilely to block the onslaught of punishment the Director's new toy was delivering. Meanwhile, Cortana struggled to keep his shields above one percent while simultaneously trying to scan the GALAHAD armor. So far, she'd found that it was a deviation of Dr. Halsey's lost blueprints for MJOLNIR Mk VII, even down to the kinds of metals in the alloy plating. "I can see why my agents love their armor so much," the Director said, kicking Chief in the abdomen. "In this suit, I feel invincible! Shame it's not even finished."

"Cortana…" Chief groaned. "How… do I… beat this thing…?"

She began to panic, pulling more and more power from nonessential hardware to bolster Chief's shield. "Uh…" she wavered, "G-Get back! Go!"

The Spartan complied; using the propulsion from the Director's next hit to get away. Dr. Church tutted, "Now, where do you think you're going?" He gave chase, almost reaching his target before stopping suddenly. "What the…?" He looked behind him, confirming the problem: in his haste to equip the armor, he'd forgotten to remove the power cables from their ports on the back.

"How," Chief grunted, "did you know that would work?"

"I-I didn't," Cortana admitted.

"No matter," the Director sneered. Something telescoped from the GALAHAD's back, allowing him to reach back and grab it. Twin barrels revved around the center coil of what was soon revealed to be a portable railgun, and he took aim at the Spartan contender. "Let's see you run from something a little more my speed."

/-/

Master Chief was sent flying across Tucker's field of view with a blast. "Holy shit!" the sim-trooper exclaimed, hopping back against the wall again. He looked at the massive metal sapient who now was reloading his heavy weapon. _Oh, this is gonna hurt like a bitch,_ he thought, charging at the GALAHAD suit, sword raised. He slid under a front kick, slicing the behemoth in the back. "Swish!" A fist came swinging around and clocked him in the head, sending him reeling momentarily. He grabbed one of the suit's thick cables and hacked the bundle asunder. "Swish! Stab!" He jabbed the sword at the super suit, only to be evaded and countered with a large shoulder plate.

The GALAHAD looked curiously at the severed cable. "Pity that didn't -"

_"GALAHAD power reserve at 90% and holding,"_ said another voice from the suit, F.I.L.S.S.

"…Come again?"

_"Prototype GALAHAD power suit lacks personal power cells. These high-voltage cables prevent the suit from powering down while in use."_

Tucker smirked under his helmet, picking up another cable. "Good to know."

_"75%"_


	32. Calling in the Cavalry

"Do you have any… threes?"

_"No-ope."_

"Damn you!"

"O'Malley! Not in front of the kid."

As the rest of the Blood Gulch Crew had left to assist Master Chief and Cortana in arresting the Director of Project Freelancer, Sheila, Lopez, Doc, Omega, and Sierra were left for various reasons: practicality, use, cooperation, and safety, respectively. So, while they waited for the group to return, Sheila had suggested a friendly game to pass the time. Doc and Sierra's votes went to Go-Fish while O'Malley's first choice was 'blow shit up with the tank'. You can guess by now that Go-Fish won out. _"…When-en are Mom and Dad-d co-oming back?"_ Sierra asked.

Doc paused, partially to keep Omega from snickering or making some unpleasant remark, before answering, "I'm sure they'll be back in no time. It's only been what? A day?"

["21 hours, 12 minutes,"] Lopez supplemented. ["I for one am happy that those Red assholes are gone. I can finally relax."]

"And do what?" O'Malley jeered, "Write more terrible music?"

"We _really_ gotta work on your people skills."

["Agreed."]

O'Malley growled, throwing his cards into the dirt. "I've had it with this game, anyway; I'm pretty sure the brat is cheating."

"How can she cheat?"

_"Mr. Lopez-z is holding my cards, and he doesn't know what yo-ou ha-ave,"_ Sierra said. _"If I want-d to cheat I could've watched your-our hand through the reflection on Dr. DuFresne's helmet."_

"I hate children…"

"Well, on the plus side, she's not buzzing as much, and she knows how to pronounce my name."

["You really needed that, didn't you?"]

"It _is_ wonderful weather today."

["How can one of you understand what I'm saying and the other can't? That makes no sense."]

_"You've bee-en awfully-fully quiet, Miss-s Sheila," _Sierra noted, turning her attention to her current caretaker.

"Hm?" Sheila said, "Oh, I'm sorry; I was just keeping an eye on O'Malley like the Master Chief asked. I can't allow him onto my network for any reason so long as you're here."

"That paranoid bastard. What would I do with an immature Fragment? If anything, she's more of a threat to _me_ in her current condition; that's why I've backed up and triple-encrypted all of my files. The runt isn't getting in here, and I'm not getting in there."

["And you called him paranoid?"]

"Quiet you."

_"…Hey, Miss She-eila, why are you in a tank anyway?"_

Sheila took a moment to make sure O'Malley was going to continue bickering with Doc and Lopez before answering. "I am not a 'proper' artificial intelligence. I am hardwired into this platform. If I were to be extracted, I would have to go to a similar class of vehicle. Even then, I would have to travel through a hard line to get to that new platform."

"Troopship," Doc said.

"Yes, like a troopship."

"No, I mean _troopship_!"

"As do I, Medical Off -"

"For the love of God," O'Malley interrupted, "must we spell it out? IN! THE! SKY!" Sheila turned around, now seeing the mass of jets and steel careening toward Blue Base. In a panic, Doc and Lopez bolted into the base as Sheila calmly pulled into reverse, backing away from the estimated point of impact.

The ship began to slow down, hovering properly before setting down where the tank was moments ago. _"Mom and Dad are back!"_ Sierra said ecstatically. Before removing herself from Sheila's mainframe, she saw that the only person to exit the craft was the pilot. _"…Where are…?"_

"What's going on?" O'Malley said. "Why isn't everything exploded already? It's much too quiet for a crash landing." He exited, finding that no crash had occurred. "Well… That's rather disappointing."

["It blew away our playing cards. We can't continue our game that little girl was beating you at."]

"Silence!"

The pilot cleared her throat. "Guys," she said somberly, "there's a little problem. I don't know the details, but Chief and the others need your help."

"And you know this how?" Doc asked.

"Halsey told me to bring in the cavalry if they didn't return by noon today. And according to my clock, it's just past thirteen hundred." She crossed her arms. "So are you coming or what?"

Sheila approached the ship. "You seem awfully serious about this," she examined. "If I can, I will do what is necessary to help."

["Count me in, too,"] Lopez said. ["It just occurred to me that I'm stuck in this canyon without those Red bastards; a fate worse than death."]

"I'm afraid I won't be much help in a fight," Doc said, to which O'Malley added, "But _I'm_ more than ready to kill. I only need to grab my rocket launcher and we can shove off."

_"I'm coming too,"_ Sierra stated.

"No offense," Doc said, "but I don't think you'd be much help, Sierra."

_"No, I mean I __have__ to go-o. If Miss Sheila's going, then I have to, too."_

["She has a point there."]

"Alright," the pilot said. "Before we leave, is there anyone else here we should bring?"

"Let's see," O'Malley muttered, "All three blue ones, Texas, Washington, the Red Sergeant, the maroon one, the orange one, Lopez, the tank, the brat, my selves… that leaves…" He snickered.

_"What's so funny-ny?"_

"Oh, nothing. In fact, I may have found a way for you to be useful after all."

/-/

Donut woke with newfound energy on his cot in Red Base. "What a nap!" He said, stretching. "I don't think I've slept that well since… ever!" He glanced at his clock as he donned his helmet. "Or as long… Have I been asleep for twenty hours? Man, that's gotta be a record! Grif would be proud… or hungry… Maybe both?" He grabbed his laundry, supposing it was his turn again for hygienic maintenance around the base. He noted that the others' rooms were empty. _Hmm… _he thought. _They must be outside. I'll join them once this stuff is in the wash._

When he reached the laundry room, he found a folding chair with makeshift shoelace binds around the legs in the middle of the room. "Whoa-ho-ho! What did I sleep through?" He returned the seat to its folded position against the wall after loading the dirty clothes into the machine. "And now to find the others."

"Sarge? Simmons! Grif? …Lopez?" He wandered around the base, searching for his comrades. "Where are you guys?" He inspected the Warthog, the engine still cold. "Seriously, guys. If this is a joke, then I'm not laughing!" He climbed up to the top of the base, grabbing the sniper rifle to try and locate the others. "Let's see… They're not in the base, they're not on the cliffs, they're not with the tank, and they're -" He stopped, looking again to see the Blues' tank advancing on Red Base. "Tank?!"

The armor vehicle pulled up in front of the bunker, and the medic exited with Lopez emerging from behind. ["I really enjoyed that more than I should have,"] he admitted.

"I did too," Sheila replied.

The tank pointed squarely at Donut as Doc began to speak. "A-Attention last remaining Re-Red," he said as calmly as he could. "We're here to, uh, n-negotiate your surrender?"

"Surrender?"

["Yeah."]

"I don't know… On what grounds?"

"You're outnumbered," Doc's vicious alter ego began.

["Outmatched,"] Lopez added,

"And outgunned," Sheila completed, firing a shell into the canyon wall for effect.

"Plus, we have your maintenance android as a hostage," O'Malley said. "If you surrender to our demands, you will see him returned with utmost haste."

"Well, I can't just surrender without Sarge; it would go against protocol."

"It's actually just you we need surrender," Doc clarified. "We can explain later if you like."

"But for now, meet our demands!"

"Fine, what do you want?" Donut said, finally giving in to the attackers.

"Not much; we only require your body."

"Alri - wait, what?" He grabbed his head as the worst headache ever set upon him. He thought he might be dreaming as he slowly lost control of his facilities. He began to shake, falling off of the roof and into unconsciousness.

/-/

When next the "lightish-red" soldier rose, he wasn't himself. "…Did it work-ork?"

"A rousing success," O'Malley congratulated. "You just need to keep him under; it's far easier that way. It's only a matter of your will against his."

"This-s feels really weird. I know he's a boy, but I still feel like a girl."

"Trust me; with this one, it's normal."

["The pilot is waiting for us."]

"Then let's go," Sheila said. Doc and Sierra hopped on to either side while Lopez latched onto the rear. "If you could loosen your grip…"

["Sorry."]


	33. Once More, With Feeling

Chief finally had time to recuperate with the Director distracted. "Did you get anything useful?" he asked Cortana as he reloaded his assault rifle.

"He's basically running around in a bipedal tank with shielding and heavy weapons. He's amazingly not tired, and doesn't seem to be a big fan of Tucker right now." They watched as Tucker hacked off another cable, earning a backfist to the head. "What I got that's actually of use is that those cables are a requirement, not a luxury. If we can sever his connection to the ship, the suit will shut down, trapping him inside."

"How thick are those cables?"

"Depends. If they're HV cables linked directly into the ship's grid, then we're working with about half an inch of insulation around bundles of highly-electrified copper; if they're heavy-filament cables running through a transformer, then it's a full inch of insulation around gold alloy wires. Either way, standard ammunition won't be quite enough. We'd need something armor-piercing or incendiary. So unless you happen to have any spare firebombs or AP rounds, it looks like Tucker's our best bet."

"…Great." He waited for his shield to be nearly full before returning to the conflict.

/-/

The Director wasn't mad. That isn't to say that he was perfectly calm, either. He was somewhere between composed and irritated, and he didn't really know where that was; uncharacteristic, seeing as he knew everything. It's not narcissism; it was just a fact that he was smarter - smarter than Halsey, this Spartan, his own agents, and especially these sim-troopers. Like this teal one who, at the moment, was shearing away his power cables. Dr. Church knew that it was a futile act of desperation. He knew that F.I.L.S.S. would supplement the missing power one way or the other at some point. He was, regardless, startled when the program had notified him that the suit _would_ eventually power down without said cables, and so decided to prevent the loss of any more.

Unfortunately, this was proving more difficult than predicted in the clunky GALAHAD power suit. His range of motion had dropped down significantly due to the suit's wide shoulders and thick chest plate. The Director was forced to use his newly acquired strength to pulverize the swordsman into submission or, preferably, death.

He glanced at his shield gauge, noting that it was actually showing signs of depletion. _No matter,_ he thought. _I'll be done with them long before that becomes an issue._ He slapped the teal soldier into the wall - god, he loved to slap people into walls - and was set to charge before getting hit by something large, conical and, most importantly, explosive. He staggered backward, shaking his head. "Phyllis," he said as calmly as possible, "what was that?"

_"Impact and blast radius,"_ the computer analyzed, _"suggest a high-explosive artillery shell: 90-millimeters-by-140-millimeters. Trajectory suggests a specialist behind the wheel of a heavy-armor class vehicle."_ She paused, scanning the ship. _"Alert: two unauthorized individuals with AI-Fragments are in the hangar. Hotel 4424 Flight Corporal Wilkinson is with them. One unknown contact. One model-M808 Main Battle Tank."_

The Director kicked the offender away again as he processed this new information. These intruders must have brought in reinforcements, using Hotel 4424 to transport. They brought a heavy vehicle, and somehow managed to get a hold of two AI. The unknown contact was likely a repurposed maintenance or combat droid, much like the one he'd stowed in the Re-Dev wing. The only foreseeable issue would be the tank's driver. There must be something custom interfering with F.I.L.L.S.'s scan, because there was no read on who was there, like the armor was driving itself. He backhanded the next shell to come flying through the corridor, sending it into the wall where the teal one used to be.

…Used to be? _"GALAHAD power reserve at 62% and stabilizing. Pulling power from nonessential functions to conserve power…. Reserves stable at 69%."_

"Bow-chicka-bow-wow," the swordsman chanted, dropping a freshly severed cable.

/-/

"Damn, that's loud!" Corporal Wilkinson said, holding her hands over her ears.

"…What?" Doc shouted back.

"Flight Corporal Wilkinson believes my main cannon to be too loud," Sheila said, turning to the pilot. "I apologize," she continued sarcastically, "I will try to be quieter in the future."

"Do try," she countered, taking a swig of whiskey from a flask.

["Are you not working?"] Lopez asked.

"If my hunch is right, then I won't be for long."

"We can't stay here!" Sierra yelled. "Dr. O'Malley, what's the quickest way to the others?"

"What do I look like," O'Malley asked, grabbing his rocket launcher and a large case of all-purpose rifle ammo, "a road map? The tank hit something with that last shell; I figure we go straight ahead and look for bodies."

Once they were gone, a moment of silence swept past Lopez and Hotel 4424 before something occurred to the droid. ["Wait, you speak Spanish?"]

Wilkinson nodded. ["I can sing you a song, if you don't believe me."]

["…I think I'm in love."]

"I'm right here," Sheila complained, firing another shell.

/-/

"Okay, D'," Church said once Eta and Iota were taken care of, "how long did that take?"

"One minute and eleven seconds," Delta answered. "There were two this time; I'm surprised that they were assimilated so fast."

"They did-n't have an-y real-choice, did-they?" Gary said. "They were so resis-tant, they-must be made of the su-per-rock from Dig Site 12-S."

"The fuck?"

"He means Sandtrap. We may sometimes forget that you are unfamiliar with the 'proper' names of Freelancer outposts."

"Ugh…" Iota groaned. "Where… am I? Eta?"

"Here," Eta replied weakly. "I'm not the only one who feels violated right now, am I?"

"I do too."

Church nodded, "I've done this three times now; one was against my wi - Oh, god, now I'm doing it - SON OF A BITCH! Why do I keep talking?!"

"I think we should go," Delta said. "We _do_ have a fight to assist in."

"Oh shit, you're right!"

/-/

Wash ducked under a punch as Church reappeared on his HUD. "I'm back. What'd I miss?"

"Not much," another dodge as Tex drew Carolina's attention. "You finish that errand?"

"What errand?" Eta appeared next to Church, realization hitting him when he did. "Oh."

"I'm going with yes, then."

"Need any help?"

"Well, I could use a drink but, other than that, we need to know how to stop the Director's new toy."

Wash turned to get a look at GALAHAD as Church asked, "What new - oh my shit! That's like Chief on more steroids!"

The ex Freelancer swept Carolina's legs before replying, "Yeah, and we need it taken care of."

"Well, I can try. Just don't expect a miracle." He buzzed out, leaving Wash to his devices as he jumped to the most useful recipient.

/-/

"Caboose."

"What?" Caboose said, looking around for the new voice's owner. "Is that you, conscience?"

"…Yes, Caboose, I'm your conscience. And right now, there's something you need to do."

"Is it sleep? I don't think I've slept since we've been here… There aren't any comfortable beds on this ship."

"Focus, buddy. Let's see…" A waypoint appeared on Caboose's HUD. "…Huh. I can't believe that worked. Okay, listen: see that big arrow?"

"Uh-huh."

"Follow it, and give whatever's there a big hug, just like before."

"With the big mean gorilla?"

"Yeah, just like with the gorilla. Only this time, you're going to hug his legs."

"…That doesn't sound like a very good hug."

"Hey, who's your conscience here?"

"You are."

"Right. So do it."

/-/

Chief decided that the Director didn't need a railgun, and so attempted to wrestle it from his grasp. It wasn't the easiest thing in the world to do, but he'd been through much worse. After several moments of relentless struggling mixed with the Reds shooting at the GALAHAD suit, the heavy weapon was confiscated from the antagonist, who promptly pushed the Spartan away. "GALAHAD long-range weapon has been neutralized," Cortana reported as the cannon sparked in defeat. "Now we just have to take care of those cables."

Tucker, meanwhile, was doing just that, slicing another power line asunder before getting backhanded about thirty feet. "You try my patience," said the Director. "Phyllis, status report."

_"Power stabilizing at 57%. Disabling nonessential firmware to compensate, Director."_

"Duly noted." He kicked Tucker away again. Once his foot was down, something new prevented him from moving. "What the…?" He looked down, seeing two blue arms wrapped around his shins. He reeled briefly. "That's just adorable," he grinned sarcastically under his helmet. "You think I'll be beaten the same as Agent Maine?" He grabbed one of the arms, almost releasing its grip on him before getting blasted by another tank shell. He fell onto his hands, keeping himself off the ground as best he could in the massive suit of armor. "Phyllis, make a note: next model of GALAHAD armor is to be sleeker, lighter, and more resilient."

_"Note saved, Director. Would you like me to inform Research and Development of this?"_

"Later." Dr. Church pushed himself back up, attempting to reach around to grab the distraction on his legs. "For now, there is urgent business to -"

_"51%"_

The Director looked up to see Tucker drop another freshly cut cable to grab a new one.


	34. Endgame

Simmons's battle rifle clicked as the readout flashed 00. "Grif," he called, "I need ammo!"

"I didn't bring any!"

"Dammit, Grif!" Sarge yelled. "That's always been your responsibility! It's the one thing I tell you to do and expect to actually be done!"

"Now, if you told me to take a nap," Grif said, "you could add _that_ to the list, and it _would_ get done. 'Bringing the extra ammo,' however, not so much."

"What are we supposed to do without ammo?" Simmons asked. "Hit the giant suit of cybernetic armor with our empty weapons? That's gonna get us killed."

"Didn't we used to have pistols? Whatever happened to those?"

"I melted them down," Sarge explained, "and turned the raw metal into more shotgun shells."

"So where are the shotgun shells?" Grif asked.

"I used them all up in the fight with Maine. Less effective than I'd originally expected, I'll admit."

"Great," Simmons lamented, "So we're out of ammo in enemy territory fighting a suit of power armor the size of Godzilla."

_"Don't give up now, guys,"_ Church said, appearing between the subordinate Reds. _"Isn't that Doc coming with ammo and your other guy?"_

The MPD medic rushed over to them, holding a crate of ammo in his hand and a second-gen rocket launcher on his shoulder. "Hey guys!" Doc greeted, setting the container down. "Did you miss us?"

"Not in the slightest," Sarge said, picking a box of shells out of the miscellany. "But we appreciate that you came all this way to bring the ammo Grif forgot."

O'Malley called to the Chief. "The reinforcements Halsey requested have arrived!"

The malignant AI fired a rocket at the GALAHAD, which it snatched out of the air much faster than anticipated and used to pummel Tucker before tripping over Caboose again. "…Well," Doc said, "We're fresh out of ideas."

/-/

Donut was having the strangest dream. He was in a hallway with the others. There was a huge green guy fighting an even more monstrous guy. He felt like he was in his own body, but he couldn't do anything; it was like someone else was controlling him. Whoever was in his stead looked at Doc, who was just finishing up talking to the other Reds. "Dr. O-O-O'Malley," she said (huh, that's weird: it's a girl!), "we need to help Dad-d!"

"I'm on it," Omega said. "You may want to pass out."

"Okay," Doc replied, relinquishing control to the psychotic program.

"Excellent. Now," he turned to Donut, "make sure yours stays under; we don't need him pulling control back from you."

"Right-ight." Donut's own fist came up to meet his face, and he blacked out again.

/-/

"We need to get the Blue simpleton out of the way," O'Malley said, pointing at Caboose. "With him gone, we can unleash hell on that mechanized brute without objection."

"I'll ta-ake care of him-m." Sierra rushed to Chief's position and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hi, Dad."

He looked at her in surprise, Cortana even projecting herself next to him. "…Sierra?"

"Dr. O'Malley-ey needs Mr. Cabo-oose out of-f the way," she explained. She blinked, looking at Cortana. "…Mom? You lost your body?"

"Try to stay focused, kiddo," Cortana asked. "Chief, you heard her: get Private Caboose away from the Director."

"Sure, fuck it," Washington said sarcastically, still assisting Tex with Carolina, "let's just all bring our valuable AI onboard the ship with the one guy in the galaxy that wants to dissect them. That sounds like a wonderful idea! Why doesn't anyone pay attention to what I say?"

/-/

Carolina flipped over Tex's shoulders, chucking her into Washington. It was an alien feeling, not having any AI when just a minute ago she'd had two. On the one hand, she wouldn't have the headaches anymore, and she didn't need to hear those two chatterboxes ramble on and on about nothing. But, on the other, she couldn't effectively use her kinetic boosters. Plus, dead silence irritated her to no end, so she almost missed the company. Almost.

She dodged another punch. This one wasn't from Washington or Texas, or any of the sim-troopers for that matter. Did it? The fist and its owner were pink and, upon lifting her for a counterattack, Carolina found her to be extremely light. At least she thought it was a girl; the armor and manicured-looking hand seemed obvious enough. The shoulders were a little wide, and she had virtually no chest. It was either an oddly-proportioned woman or a well-groomed man. It didn't really matter, so long as they were out of the way.

The trio came at her again from separate angles. Texas earned the first hit after the pink one feigned another punch. Carolina retaliated with a few jabs to the new soldier's ribs before returning her attention to Tex, throwing a kick her way then catching Wash with a right hook. The pink one attempted a tackle, wrapping her arms around the Freelancer's waist, but not exerting enough force to knock her over. She pried her off, turning back to Washington who swept her legs, allowing Tex to drop with a flying shoulder into her abdomen.

Carolina rose, earning a boot to the face that sent her in the path of one of Omega's rockets. She hurtled back into Wash's armbar, bringing both back to the ground with her having just enough resistance to reverse the lock with a slam. Her arm now free, she continued her assault on Texas before her leg was kicked out from under her by the pink soldier, knocking her off-balance for the android to deliver a roundhouse.

/-/

Taking her stance again with heavy breath, Carolina finally caved. She dropped to her hands and knees in defeat and fatigue. Texas lifted her against the wall. "I'm still not done with you!" she growled.

Sierra put her hand on Tex's shoulder. "Mrs. Texas," she said calmly, "it's over; please, put-ut her down."

"Oh, I'll put her down!"

Tex raised her fist to finish the fight, but Wash caught her. "That's enough, Tex" he panted, "She can't fight anymore. Drop her."

"If we leave her alive, she'll just come back for us!"

"And if we kill her, we're no different! Chief and Halsey promised she'll be put away for a long time, but you have to let her down right now."

Texas contemplated the matter for a few seconds and, with a sigh, dropped Carolina. She turned to face Sierra. "This had better not come back to bite us later."

Sierra nodded. "I-It won't."

/-/

Caboose's grip on the Director broke just in time for Chief to scoop him up and carry him to safety. "Stay here," the giant ordered, reentering the conflict.

"Okay," Caboose confirmed, sitting against the wall. "…I can't feel my arms… Junior must've had a midnight snack last night… I'm going to lie down now."

A rocket blasted the Director just as he deflected another artillery shell. "Direct hit!" O'Malley yelled as he reloaded. "A few more of those should make a difference eventually."

F.I.L.S.S., still monitoring the GALAHAD's functions, began to fret for the first time ever. _"GALAHAD energy intake at 43% and declining. Personal barriers stable at 56%. Heads-Up Display is disabled. Asymmetric recoilless carbine-962 is disabled."_

"You're starting to get on my nerves," Dr. Church said, slugging Tucker in the gut before kicking him into the lab. "Phyllis, drain power from all nonessential hardware to boost energy levels."

_"Affirmative. One moment."_ The Director headbutted the Master Chief, knocking him into the path of another rocket when F.I.L.S.S. reported, _"Error: nonessential hardware has been previously disabled. GALAHAD energy intake is 38% and declining."_

"Swish!" Tucker coughed, shearing another bundle of wires in two. This earned him a kick in the side, driving him into the table.

_"Energy intake at 23% and declining. Personal barriers at 24% and declining."_

"You in particular," the Director lifted the Blue swordsman, "I'm especially tired of. It's time I put you down. Any last words?"

"A few." Tucker took a breath, dropping his sword in exhaustion. "Kiss…"

_"20%"_

"…my…"

"Spit it out!"

_"13%"_

"…ass."

The Director scowled, getting ready for the finale when he heard a metallic _ching._ _"…Ze…ro…per…cent…"_ He turned around, his armor growing heavy without necessary power. He saw the orange sim-trooper with Maine's favorite weapon, lifting it from between the last two sections of cabling. The suit forced him to a kneeling position as he dropped Tucker.

"I can't believe that worked!" Grif yelled. He rushed in, helping Tucker up.

"What… the fuck…" Tucker panted. "Is that… Maine's thing?"

"Yeah, souvenir. Pretty sick, right?"

"And lucky." The duo faced Master Chief, who stood in the doorway with Cortana projected next to him. "Dr. Leonard Church, Director of Project Freelancer," she addressed, "you're under arrest."

"On what charge?" the Director spat.

"I don't know the technical term," Simmons said, entering with the others, "but I'm going to go with 'using humans for target practice.'"

"Corporate and military espionage, murder in the first-degree," Cortana continued, "The list goes on."

Sierra clicked a few sequences into the GALAHAD's wireless console at the back of the room until one worked, popping the drained Director out of the suit. Chief lifted him by the collar of his shirt, glaring at him. "…I hope I never have to see you again," he said flatly.

"The feeling is mutual. So," Dr. Church looked around the room, "I assume you all know how to pilot a frigate? …No? …I see; so we're taking a troopship."


	35. Epilogue

The Blood Gulch Crew arrived back at the canyon with Master Chief, the Director, several Freelancers, and Cortana's body. After making sure the unconscious agents were properly restrained, Chief radioed UNSC Infinity for a ride back. _"Roger, Sierra One-One-Seven,"_ came the reply, _"Standby for pickup; ETA seven hours to your coordinates. Over."_

"Understood. We'll be waiting… Maybe bring two or three pelicans; we've had a busy couple of days. Out."

"C'mon, guys," Corporal Wilkinson whined, raising her handcuffs in front of her. "Do I really need to be arrested too? I'm the one who brought the cavalry!"

"Sorry," Cortana explained as Chief turned around, "You _did_ work for the Director. We'll let you go once we've determined you're not going to be a liability"

The pilot huffed. "I couldn't be less of a liability if I was drunk."

Doc yawned, grabbing control back from Omega. "What'd I miss?"

"Us winning and Grif being an idiot," Sarge replied. "Not much."

The medic turned to face the Director, who sat with handcuffs on a folding chair nearby. "Mr. Director," he greeted.

"Medical Officer DuFresne," the detainee answered.

Church asked Doc, "You know this asshole?"

"Yeah, he ran the organization that sent me here. You didn't find it strange when I said 'I'm on loan to both teams?'"

"I just thought Blue Command had their heads up their asses."

"Wait," Tucker interrupted, "Does that make you a Freelancer?"

"No," Doc replied. "It makes me a medic who used to work for the Project. I don't have any combat training to speak of."

A thought occurred to Cortana. "Hey, Chief," she said. "Since we have some time before they get here anyway, do you want to help the Reds settle a bet?"

/-/

"…This is a bad idea." Chief now stood with the others in the Reds' garage. The Blood Gulchers had cleared a massive space in the middle of the room for a fight between Master Chief and Texas to settle a dispute Grif and Simmons had about two days ago.

"Come on," Cortana assured, "it'll be fun! Plus, we need to kill a few hours anyway, so why not?"

"He's afraid I'll win," Texas taunted, "that's 'why not.'"

"I have to go with the Chief on this one," Washington said. "If it gets out of hand, it could level this base."

_"But,"_ Church countered, "we _are_ gonna be leaving this canyon, anyway. We might as well let Chief's fumes air out."

"This fight is gonna be so badass," Grif said.

Chief looked around, eyes following him expectantly. Finally he gave in. "Fine, I'll fight her." He popped the seal on his helmet, removed it, and immediately spat, "When was the last time this place was cleaned?"

"About a week ago," Sarge answered. "Donut does most of the clean -" he sputtered. "Donut! We need him back!"

"Oh," Sierra said, returning to Sheila's CPU. "So-orry."

Donut shook himself out of his daze. "Ugh… What happened?"

"An AI fragment possessed you," Doc explained. "It's alright, you get used to it after about the third time. I did."

"I see… I'm gonna… sit down. I'm still a little out of it." He sat next to the Director, who immediately scooted away.

Chief tossed his helmet to Sarge. "Make sure nothing happens to her," he said, shedding the rest of his armor from the waist up.

"What gives?" Tex inquired impatiently. "You're going easy on me?"

"That armor is expensive to build; if you damage it, the UNSC can't afford to make me more."

"If you say so."

Washington walked between the two fighters as they settled into their stances. "This is Agent Texas versus the Master Chief, round one. Fight!"

The brawl was on as soon as Wash was clear. Texas took the initiative, opening with a leaping haymaker. Chief grabbed her fist, slamming a punch into her solar plexus before flipping her over his shoulder. He waved his hand twice, nearly having forgotten he was fighting a near-solid mass of metal. Tex pivoted on her elbow, rising back to her feet before charging again with a flurry of punches. _I could end this right now,_ he analyzed, blocking each incoming hit. _She seems solely focused on getting damage in. She doesn't care about form or defense; I've already found three major flaws in her tactics._ Leaning out of the way of a straight punch, Chief brought his arm down hard on Tex's shoulder, knocking her down before retreating. _Just with that, I could have followed up with any number of submissions or knockouts. But I retreated. Why?_

Deciding to go on the offensive, Chief charged at the android, catching her with a hard punch before shifting into a suplex. Tex hit the ground hard and rolled away to avoid another follow-up attack. Instead of going after her, Chief stood and retook his stance. "Why aren't you doing all that tactical shit you did against Maine and the Director?" Tex asked. "Is it because I'm a girl?"

"Didn't stop him with me or South," a constrained Carolina said, stripped of her armor on the bench next to the Director. South nodded in agreement, similarly restricted.

"No," Chief replied, clarity coming over him as he smiled for the first time since he first arrived there. "It's because I'm having fun." He rushed Tex again, and she did the same as they lined up their punches.

/-/

"…I'm bored…" The man in his white suit clicked lazily through his computer files, twisting his cane with his free hand. It was dull - if not plain mind-numbing - to wait for scouts to come back with valuable Intel or status updates, so the man had recently taken up hacking government and military files. Sometimes, he'd find a mildly amusing entry about a war criminal or mob boss that tried to be like him but failed. He brushed a loose orange hair back into place, and was ready to shut his laptop when something caught his eye. _Hm… 'Project Freelancer Director to be arrested and tried by the UNSC…' UNSC? A military-slash-government I've yet to piss off? …Sounds made up. But, if it's real…_ He rose, addressing the guards as he passed through his office door. "Make some arrangements," he said, "I'm having guests over, and I want them to be as comfortable as possible when they arrive."


End file.
